Bluglass shares surge after LED breakthrough

Shares in Australian LED technology developer BluGlass jumped sharply on Thursday after the company announced what it called a “world first” reduction in impurities in its gallium nitrade films.

The Sydney-based company described the development as a “breakthrough” for the company and its “low temperature” thin film technology, which is known as “Remote Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition (RPCVD) and was developed after 15 years of research at Macquarie University. It is designed to grow semiconductor materials such as gallium nitrades for the production of high efficiency devices such as LEDs (light emitting diodes) and solar cells.

The announcement was enough to push the stock up 36 per cent to 15c, its highest level since May last year. A unit of Japanese industrial  giant Sumitomo has a 19.9 per cent stake in the company.

Bluglass said the ability to produce GaNs with industry acceptable impurities (carbon and oxygen) was a significant step towards its “proof of concept” milestone and its aim to show the advantages of the RPCVD technology – mostly in the efficiency of LED devices.

“This achievement is a breakthrough for the company and is a critical step in proving to the industry and future customers the potential of our technology,” CEO Giles Bourne said in a statement.

“Carbon and Oxygen are well known inhibitors of RPCVD, and their reduction will be viewed by the industry as a significant achievement. These reductions in impurities will greatly assist BluGlass in achieving its technical and commercial milestones.”