OSRAM Researchers Nominated for German Future Prize for Technology and Innovation.

High-power OSTAR[R] LED Thinfilm chips are revolutionizing LED technology

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- OSRAM GmbH, Regensberg, Germany, together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, was one of four teams nominated for the prestigious German Future Prize at a ceremony held October 11 in Berlin. The German Future Prize, now in its eleventh year, is conferred by the German Federal President for outstanding scientific and technical achievement. The award will be presented by President Horst Kohler on December 6 to celebrate outstanding technical, engineering and scientific achievements that have practical applications, are marketable, and create jobs. "With this new LED technology, we have succeeded in producing bright and extremely efficient LEDs that have the potential to become established in general lighting applications," said Dr. Rudiger Muller, President and CEO of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, a subsidiary of OSRAM GmbH, with North American headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.

"The nomination highlights our position as a company with enormous powers of innovation in Germany, and even worldwide," he added. He sees the nomination above all as an opportunity to draw the public's attention to the technologies developed by OSRAM Opto Semiconductors and their practical applications. The nomination applies to Thinfilm chip technology and its use in the OSTAR[R] family of LEDs. The OSTAR[R] LED has been adapted for a wide range of applications, including mini-projectors and rear projection televisions, night vision equipment in automobiles, and for general lighting. An OSTAR[R] version will be launched in 2008 for use in automobile headlights.

The technical innovation of the OSTAR[R] light emitting diode lies in the perfect interplay between various technologies - a new manufacturing process for high-power chips, a perfectly matched package platform, and special optics developed in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering. "These technologies enable us to achieve particularly high luminances for LEDs of all colors and for infrared light. This is a pioneering innovation," said Dr. Klaus Streubel, spokesman for the development team at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors.

Light emitting diodes consist of semiconductor crystals that grow on a substrate during manufacture. Up to now this substrate stayed in the diode after manufacture where it absorbed much of the light produced. Now, with thin-film technology developed by OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, the top surface of the light-generating layer can be successfully coated with metal. This metallized side is soldered onto a thin carrier material and serves as a reflector. The original substrate is removed. The result is a thin light-producing layer that lies very close to the top of the LED. The light emitting diode can therefore emit almost all of its light at the top - this represents a major advance in brightness for LEDs. The OSTAR[R] packages are precisely designed to take full advantage of these thin-film chips.

The team nominated for the German Future Prize includes the pioneers of Thinfilm technology Dr. Stefan Illek and Dr. Klaus Streubel representing OSRAM, and Dr. Andreas Brauer from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering.

The nomination of the team for the German Future Prize is the second time this year that OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has been put forward for a major innovation award. In July 2007 the company received the "Best Innovator 2007" award presented jointly by A.T. Kearney and Wirtschaftswoche, a leading German weekly business news magazine.

Further information on the German Future Prize:

http://www.osram-os.com/deutscher-zukunftspreis-2007/english/index .php (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

About OSRAM:

OSRAM is one of the two leading lighting manufacturers in the world. Sales in the year ending September 30, 2006 totalled 4.6 billion euros, 88 percent of which came from outside Germany. OSRAM is a high-tech company in the lighting sector. Around 40 percent of sales comes from innovative products. This global player employs around 40,000 people worldwide, supplies customers in some 150 countries and has 49 production facilities in 18 countries (www.osram.com).

About OSRAM Opto Semiconductors:

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH of Regensburg is a wholly owned subsidiary of OSRAM, one of the two leading lighting manufacturers in the world. It offers its customers solutions based on semiconductor technology for lighting, sensing and visualization applications. The company employs more than 3,600 people worldwide and operates sites in Regensburg (Germany), Santa Clara (USA) and Penang (Malaysia). Sales for the fiscal year ending September 2006 totaled more than EUR 500 million. For more information, visit www.OSRAM-os.com.