Seoul Viosys Starts Mass Production of Rare-Earth-Free White Light Emitter

Seoul Viosys began mass production of a rare-earth-free white light emitter on October 29, 2026. The new chip technology produces white light in sizes as small as 10 micrometers. It generates light using only gallium nitride, without rare earths, synthetic silicone resins, plastics, or lead frames. The company states the technology costs about half as much to make as a conventional white LED. In its first mass production run, a micro-LED chip measuring 25µm x 10µm produced 0.015lm of white light. The luminous efficacy of the new chips is already close to 100lm/W. Seoul Viosys aims to reach a luminous efficacy of 200lm/W within two years.

Seoul Group plans to start mass production of WICOP 3 in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company intends to supply customers first that have respected its intellectual property and relied on its products. Seoul Semiconductor's founder Chung Hoon Lee stated the company targets WICOP 1, 2, and 3 for applications in AR glasses and AI data communications. The company is seeking trusted upstream and downstream micro-LED supply chain partners in AR displays and AI transmitters. Micro-LEDs built on WICOP can carry high volumes of AI data over distances from under 1cm to tens of meters. An array of 1000 WICOP chips arranged in a grid within an area of 1mm² or less transmits data 10 times faster at one tenth of the power compared to copper links. Market research firms including Omdia forecast that this technology and augmented reality together will create a new $60bn market within five years. The company believes micro white opto-semiconductors can create a new market tens of times larger than today's $10bn white LED market. White LEDs currently comprise about $10bn of the $15bn global market for packaged LEDs. The new technology allows white light to be possible in both large chips of 1000µm and above and in micro LEDs below 100µm. The new emitter's chromaticity falls inside the CIE standard white region.