The need to reduce brightness variations is increasing as a greater number of applications and devices, particularly in the automotive and industrial sectors, are demanding improved consistency when configuring multiple LEDs side-by-side.

However, up to now it has been difficult to minimize brightness variations during the manufacturing process. Conventionally, users were able to only narrow down the number of ranks from around 4 to 2-3, which still required sorting and the use of different resistors to match each rank, increasing the number of man-hours required along with inventory management.

In response, the SML-D15 series was developed using a comprehensive, highly integrated manufacturing system (from device fabrication), allowing ROHM to surpass the limits of conventional LED production. As a result, high-accuracy brightness is achieved and brightness variations reduced by 75%. This makes it possible to provide a single rank of brightness (a rarity in the industry), significantly lightening design load.

In addition, by optimizing the LED element ROHM was able to improve brightness by up to 3x over conventional products, delivering class-leading brightness in the 1608 size (1.6mm x 0.8mm). The LEDs are also AEC-Q101 qualified, making them suitable for applications demanding increased reliability such as automotive systems.