Little Known Quantum Dot Company QD Light
Table of contents
In previous articles we’ve discussed various private and public companies who are focusing on the production and commercialization of quantum dots. In a recent press release from Nanosys, they announced surpassing a 2000KG production milestone for quantum dots at their recently opened 60,000 square foot manufacturing facility, an amount they claim is sufficient to enable millions of devices. One other little known Russian company, QD Light, is also producing quantum dots.
About QD Light
In 2010 RUSNANO invested around $1 million in QD Light which took in an overall seed investment of around $2 million. RUSNANO stated that while the size of their investments are typically much greater, they decided to invest in QD Light due to the market niche for quantum dots being in its infancy and because of the small number of worldwide producers.
In December 2011, QD Light announced that they had commissioned their first quantum dot production line with capabilities of 10KG of quantum dots per year. At the same time they forecasted 2012 earnings at around $1 million and the intention to boost production to 100KG per year “over the next few years”. QD Light claims their quantum dots are significantly less expensive than analogous dots produced in the US and Europe. QD Light uses a production process called colloidal synthesis, a promising commercial production method due to its scalability.
LED Applications
In December 2012, QD Light announced a joint venture with a Lumeon, Russian startup which intends to become Russia’s first industrial manufacturer of remote phosphor, the element of LED light sources. The first phase of the project will aim for production capacity of up to 10,000 square meters of LED-phosphor chips a year which will enable production of more than 5 million LED lamps of different designs. QD Light’s quantum dots will be used in the production of these phosphor chips. As stated by the CEO of Lumeon:
For us, an important indicator of the relevance of this technology is that the world’s largest LED companies, such as Philips, Cree, Osram, are launching solutions using remote phosphor
Conclusion
If QD Light was able to reach their target and expand their production to 100KG per year, this would be a 10-fold increase in several years. At that pace, QD Light should be able to scale up to the production levels achieved by Nanosys in the not so distant future. The big question is who QD Light is selling their quantum dots to and if they can sell all their production as they scale. With no information coming out of the company this year, an update seems well overdue.
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