Plessey Semiconductors has announced the PLB010350 LED that it is manufactured on its gallium-nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) manufacturing platform. The 2×2-mm blue LEDs deliver 350 mW of radiometric power when driven at 420 mA — a significant jump from the company's previously announced Si-based LEDs and a product that can serve in some general solid-state lighting (SSL) applications.

In terms of efficiency, the new LEDs are markedly improved from the earlier product but still well behind sapphire-based LEDs. For example, Cree announced the 2.5×2.5mm XLamp XB-D LEDs in January 2012. The company offers a royal blue version of the LED that delivers 450–550 mW at 350 mA of drive current.

Plessey said that the new LEDs can be used in applications including entertainment and decorative lighting as well as in wall-washing and -grazing applications. Moreover, the company said the LEDs are especially suited to any SSL applications that require pulsed lighting.

The allure of GaN-on-Si remains lower-cost LEDs driven both by cheaper, widely-available Si wafers and the ability to use automated back-end manufacturing tools in depreciated Si fabs. Plessey is manufacturing its products on such a 6-in manufacturing line.