It Is No Longer Just a LED, It Is an Opto Semiconductor

Just as the transition from a 15 cm vacuum tube to a 1 cm transistor triggered the IT revolution, light-emitting devices are also evolving beyond conventional LEDs used simply for illumination into ultra-miniaturized opto semiconductors that will drive the AI era.

Based on proprietary technologies developed in Korea, including WICOP, device dimensions have been reduced from conventional packages of approximately 2,000 µm to an extreme scale of 1 µm — roughly 1/2,000 of the original size.

These nearly invisible 1 µm opto semiconductors are expected to become key devices for high-speed AI communications, AR, and highly transparent displays, creating a market projected to reach $50 billion within the next decade — roughly one-quarter the size of the memory semiconductor market.

When the bulky 15 cm vacuum tube was replaced by the fingernail-sized transistor, the world did not call it a “smaller vacuum tube.” Today, the same transformation is taking place in the field of photonics. The traditional concept of the LED — a light-emitting diode used simply to illuminate spaces or provide backlighting behind displays — is reaching its limits. Light-emitting devices are now evolving into advanced opto semiconductors capable of transmitting data at ultra-high speeds and powering next-generation AI devices.

Conventional LEDs were built around relatively bulky structures in which a chip was mounted inside a thick plastic package and connected using gold wires. Their overall size could reach approximately 2,000 µm because they were designed primarily as packaged components for producing visible light. Korea-led proprietary technologies, including WICOP-based no-wire, no-package technology, eliminate unnecessary wires and packages and enable device dimensions to be reduced to an extreme 1 µm scale — about 1/2,000 of conventional packaged LEDs.