TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo, President Chihiro Kanagawa) has developed and begun sales of its “ASP Series” of silicone encapsulating material for HBLEDs (High Brightness Light-Emitting Diodes). The company is beginning sample shipments, mainly for backlighting applications in LCD TVs.

This newly developed silicone product will stably retain its properties even when exposed to high temperatures. The new material greatly reduces the level of gas permeability, which can lead to the degradation of light intensity. It succeeds in reducing the level to 1/100th of the conventional methyl-group material and to 1/10th of the phenyl-group material. As a result, the reliability of HBLEDs has been dramatically improved.

Because this new product is superior in photo-thermal stability and transparency and has a high refractive index of 1.57, it is an attractive encapsulating material for HBLEDs. There are two types of products in this series formulated based on different hardness properties: “ASP-1010 A/B” has a hardness level of (Shore D) 55 and “ASP-1020 A/B”, has a hardness level of (Durometer A) 65.

In addition to the new silicone encapsulating material product series being announced in this press release, Shin-Etsu Chemical has a line-up of other diverse silicone encapsulating materials for HBLED applications. Representative products in the “SCR Series” are increasingly being adopted for backlighting applications in mobile phones and notebook PCs, and products in the “KER Series,” which are superior in long-term reliability, are also being increasingly adopted, mainly for applications in general-purpose lighting.

In addition to these silicone encapsulating materials, Shin-Etsu Chemical has developed various other silicone materials for HBLEDs including die bond materials and lens materials. The company also offers peripheral materials such as heat-radiating materials and moisture-proof insulating materials. In the future, Shin-Etsu Chemical will continue to pursue the development of cutting-edge technologies and will carry out its product development efforts with the goal of meeting the needs of the rapidly developing, more sophisticated market for HBLEDs.

Silicones are highly functional materials that have both organic and inorganic characteristics. They are used as products that can provide high-added value in a wide range of industrial fields such as the electrical, electronics, automotive, construction, cosmetics, and chemical industries.