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Overview

General comment

Traditional through-hole LED in standard 5mm (T-1 3/4) package. Epoxy encapsulated with built-in lens. Used for panel indicators, displays, and general illumination since the 1970s.

Technology
Standard manufacturing process
Geography
Global average data from equipment vendor specifications and industry literature

System boundary

System boundary - LED THT 5mmSystem boundary figure: identity, gate in, entering flows, the dashed system boundary and the unit processes inside it, the reference product, emissions and waste, and below it the flows that are recorded but not quantified. No inventory quantities.LED THT 5mmGATE INRaw materials and sub-componentsENTERING FLOWSElectricityProcess gasesMaterialsFreight transportOtherSYSTEM BOUNDARYMODELLED PROCESS SEQUENCEProcess sequenceWafer transport, CN fab to packaging site - RoadLeadframe PreparationDie AttachWire BondingEpoxy EncapsulationLead Trim and FormElectrical Test and BinningREFERENCE PRODUCTLED THT 5mmAssembled and tested componentEMISSIONS AND WASTEEmissions to airEmissions to waterWaste routesRECORDED BUT NOT QUANTIFIEDIn scope, left out of the quantified inventoryCut off below the significance threshold, or with no background dataset available - each is listed with its reason1FLOWsystem boundaryreference flowentering flowemission / waste

The figure groups this dataset's unit processes by class. It is not a count of manufacturing steps — each process runs over as many passes as the flow requires, and those pass counts ship with the dataset.

Download this figure (SVG)

Data quality and references

Composite DQI 1.9 Very good
Reliability
2.5
Completeness
2.3
Temporal
2.0
Geographic
2.0
Technological
1.0

Pedigree scores follow the ecoinvent data-quality matrix: 1 is the best attainable, 5 the weakest. The composite is their aggregate.

Sampling procedure
Component vendor specifications, academic papers, industry literature
Coverage status
Partial
Pedigree-scored source files
3 — the source records behind this dataset's manufacturing operations. Each carries the five pedigree axes above; the composite DQI aggregates them.

Technosphere inputs

13 flows. Quantities are not published; they ship with the dataset on Circa.

100mm GaN LED on Sapphire REEL datasetwafer
Derivation basis
  • Calculated by the manufacturing model. The linked REEL dataset carries the upstream life cycle sources.

No source is attached to this row.

Source citations
Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset
LED GaN 100mm wafer, 100mm, China
Background dataset
Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Notes
Yield-adjusted wafer fraction; carries the suppressed wafer-fab elementary flows
Uncertainty
No range defined.
Unit
wafer
CF4 production Process gasg · -49.2% / +69.5%
Derivation basis
  • No retrievable public document identified

No source is attached to this row.

Source citations
Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset
Carbon tetrafluoride (CF4)
Background dataset
Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Uncertainty
-49.2% / +69.5% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
g
SF6 production Process gasg · -49% / +53%
Derivation basis
  • No retrievable public document identified

No source is attached to this row.

Source citations
Not stated
Upstream REEL dataset
Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)
Background dataset
Modelled by REEL; see the upstream dataset above.
Uncertainty
-49% / +53% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
g
Gold Materialkg
Derivation basis
  • Calculated from per-operation consumption, operation counts, and manufacturing yield.

The sources for this row are listed below.

Source citations (dataset-level)
  • Kingbright LED datasheets (dimensions)
  • Vishay LED application notes
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
gold
Uncertainty
No range defined.
Unit
kg
Silver Materialkg · -7.2% / +50%
Derivation basis
  • Calculated from per-operation consumption, operation counts, and manufacturing yield.

The sources for this row are listed below.

Source citations (dataset-level)
  • Kingbright LED datasheets (dimensions)
  • Vishay LED application notes
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
silver
Uncertainty
-7.2% / +50% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
kg
Epoxy resin, liquid Materialkg · -7.2% / +50%
Derivation basis
  • Calculated from per-operation consumption, operation counts, and manufacturing yield.

The sources for this row are listed below.

Source citations (dataset-level)
  • Kingbright LED datasheets (dimensions)
  • Vishay LED application notes
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
epoxy resin, liquid
Uncertainty
-7.2% / +50% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
kg
Wafer transport, CN fab to packaging site - Road Freight transporttkm · -100% / +60%
Derivation basis
  • Specified for this manufacturing operation and scaled to the dataset's functional unit.

No source is attached to this row.

Source citations
Not stated
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
transport, freight, lorry, unspecified
Notes
Freight for the part-finished product moving between REEL-modelled sites: the wafer fraction this dataset consumes, travelling from light-emitting-diode epitaxy fab to domestic packaging site. Shipped mass is that wafer fraction times the wafer mass implied by the diameter, thickness and substrate its own model declares, times a shipping-packaging factor covering the returnable wafer shipping box and its secondary carton. No published container mass was found for a wafer of this diameter, so the factor carried here is the one derived for the largest diameter in this database rather than one derived for this one. The two diameters that do have a measured carrier show the factor rising as the wafer gets smaller, because a box's own mass does not fall in proportion to the wafer material it holds, so this leg's shipped mass is more likely to be understated than overstated; the packaging production burden is excluded as returnable, while its mass is carried because freight scales with what is actually shipped. Road freight is allocated on actual shipped mass, and the mapped road market already includes carrier empty returns; the central therefore has no return uplift. The authored band uses the route-class distance envelope, and its upper endpoint also adds the separate reusable-carrier return service. The route itself is a declared proxy: the route evidence rates this domestic fab to packaging pair no better than low to medium and lists this vendor's wafer routing among the entries not to be authored without a proxy note, so one vendor's own short domestic move stands in for the class rather than describing a journey confirmed for this dataset.
Uncertainty
-100% / +60% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
tkm — tonne-kilometres, a transport effort rather than a mass
Electricity, China (CN) ElectricitykWh · -8% / +10.7%
Derivation basis
  • Calculated from equipment energy across all manufacturing operations, plus facility support such as cleanroom HVAC, ultrapure water, cooling, gas abatement, and bulk gases.

The sources below come from the manufacturing operations behind this row.

Sources (inherited)
Inherited, rolled up from the contributing process steps:
  • Disco Corporation DFD6361 dicing saw specifications (blade-dicing process power and wafer throughput)
  • AAM International (Strip sizes 100x300mm)
  • US Patent 5945259A (Etching photoresist thickness)
  • US Patent 6008068A (Leadframe thickness 0.125-0.25mm)
  • Strano 2025 (Lubricant 0.8-5 g/m²)
  • Bruderer BSTA 510 Specs (510kN, 22kW)
  • Samhoor Press Specs (200-800 SPM)
  • Guste, Marinas & Ong, Machines 12 (2024) 467, Table 3; Besi Datacon 2200 evo product page
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
electricity, medium voltage
Notes
package-level only; wafer-fab electricity carried by the wafer reference. The uncertainty range is the pre-split range scaled by the same package share, not a range derived for the package step on its own
Uncertainty
-8% / +10.7% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
kWh
Compressed air Process gasg · -29.4% / +31.4%
Source citations
  • CAE Online: Teradyne Catalyst Specifications
  • EE Journal: "Advantest Unveils New Ultra-High-Current Power Supply" (2024)
  • 4Semi: TEL Precio Wafer Prober Specifications
  • FormFactor Summit 11000/12000 Facility Planning Guide
  • 3D InCites: "ERS Electronic Introduces High Power Dissipation Thermal Chuck" (2023)
  • Abachy: "How Much Energy and Water Are Required for Wafer Fabrication" (2025)
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
compressed air, 700 kPa gauge
Notes
package-level remainder; wafer-allocated share carried by the wafer reference. The uncertainty range is the pre-subtraction range scaled by the remaining share, not a range derived for the remainder on its own
Uncertainty
-29.4% / +31.4% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
g
Epoxy Lens Materialkg
Derivation basis
  • Engineering calculation from material densities and JEDEC T-1 3/4 dimensions

The sources for this row are listed below.

Source citations (dataset-level)
  • Kingbright LED datasheets (dimensions)
  • Vishay LED application notes
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
epoxy resin, liquid
Uncertainty
No range defined.
Unit
kg
Die And Cup Materialkg
Derivation basis
  • Engineering calculation from material densities and JEDEC T-1 3/4 dimensions

The sources for this row are listed below.

Source citations (dataset-level)
  • Kingbright LED datasheets (dimensions)
  • Vishay LED application notes
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
copper, cathode
Uncertainty
No range defined.
Unit
kg
Leadframe Materialkg
Derivation basis
  • Engineering calculation from material densities and JEDEC T-1 3/4 dimensions

The sources for this row are listed below.

Source citations (dataset-level)
  • Kingbright LED datasheets (dimensions)
  • Vishay LED application notes
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
copper, cathode
Uncertainty
No range defined.
Unit
kg
Wire Bond Materialkg · -1% / +16%
Derivation basis
  • Calculated: the gold retained in the one bond this model's assembly step declares - the wire loop at the diameter and length that step states, plus the ball formed at the first bond, sized against the wire by the cited documents - at the standard density of gold. WHAT IS ASSUMED, AND IT IS BOTH ENDS OF THE RANGE. Neither cited document reports a ball measured on a gold wire of this diameter, so every ball size used here is a stated relation carried onto this bond. The lower end, which the central sits inside, is the ratio a granted patent states between a wire one size down and the ball it forms; that document describes the wire as a metal wire and names gold, copper and aluminium as the metals its method suits, without saying which of them the figures belong to, so reading it as gold and reading it at this larger diameter are two assumptions. The upper end is the ratio a peer-reviewed study states for the ball on a wire of exactly this diameter, whose wire is a silver-gold-palladium alloy rather than gold, so carrying it across that difference in composition is a third. The same study reports the ball's size and shape responding to the melting current used, so the range is the operating envelope those two documents describe rather than a measurement of this bond, and the central is the midpoint of the patent's pair, rounded. No public source reports the bonding-wire scrap an assembly line buys above the metal a finished bond retains, so no purchase allowance is added and the shortfall is a declared gap

The sources for this row are listed below.

Background data
ecoinvent 3.12
Background dataset
gold
Uncertainty
-1% / +16% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
kg

Outputs and waste

Sapphire/GaN dicing residue Solid wasteg · ±25%
Source citations
  • Semiconductor Digest, reported blade-dicing kerf width
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12 treatment route
Background dataset
treatment of inert waste, sanitary landfill
Uncertainty
±25% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
g
Sapphire/GaN dicing filter cake Solid wasteg
Source citations
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12 treatment route
Background dataset
treatment of inert waste, sanitary landfill
Uncertainty
No range defined.
Unit
g
Uncured Ag-filled die-attach epoxy (dispense loss) Solid wasteg · -72.2% / +500%
Source citations
Background data
ecoinvent 3.12 treatment route
Background dataset
market for precious metal from electronics scrap, in anode slime
Uncertainty
-72.2% / +500% around the published quantity. The bounds themselves ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
g

Emissions to air

1 elementary flow released to air by this dataset's own operations. Quantities are not published; they ship with the dataset on Circa.

VOCs (from epoxy cure) Emission to airg
Compartment
Air (non-urban air or from high stacks)
ecoinvent 3.12 elementary flow
NMVOC, non-methane volatile organic compounds
Uncertainty
A minimum-maximum range is defined for this flow. Bounds ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
g

Emissions to water

1 elementary flow released to water by this dataset's own operations. Quantities are not published; they ship with the dataset on Circa.

Suspended sapphire/GaN dicing solids Emission to waterg
Source citations
Compartment
Water (surface water)
ecoinvent 3.12 elementary flow
Suspended solids, unspecified
Uncertainty
A minimum-maximum range is defined for this flow. Bounds ship with the dataset on Circa.
Unit
g

Flows not quantified

1 flow is recorded for this dataset but carries no quantity — cut off below the significance threshold, or with no background dataset available. It remains inside the declared system boundary; each is listed with its reason.

Not quantified - no background dataset available (1)

Gallium nitride Materialkg
Derivation basis
  • Calculated from per-operation consumption, operation counts, and manufacturing yield.

The sources for this row are listed below.

Source citations (dataset-level)
  • Kingbright LED datasheets (dimensions)
  • Vishay LED application notes
Background data
no background dataset
Background dataset
Not applicable: this flow is not quantified in the inventory.
Reason
The epitaxial gallium nitride active layer. No gallium nitride compound exists in the background database used for linkage. Its constituents are available separately - semiconductor-grade gallium is mapped in this inventory and the nitrogen comes from the fab's own supply - so a user who wants the upstream burden should build it from gallium, ammonia and the deposition energy rather than from a single compound entry. The quantity is recorded here and its upstream production is left unlinked.
Uncertainty
No range defined.
Unit
kg

Limitations and unquantified flows (3)

Limits this dataset declares about itself: first any limit stated in its own description, then any limit it declares flow by flow, grouped by channel. Each entry below is the model's own disclosure.

  • Not quantifiedProcess water for the die-attach, encapsulation and singulation steps is not quantified on this dataset.
  • The declared mass of this lamp is larger than the sum of the constituents its own material list enumerates. This dataset says in its own words that the terms it itemises do not close the declared total, and it names the plating on the leads and the silvering of the reflector cup as parts it does not itemise; the rest of the balance is not attributed to any named material, so nothing here says what that remainder is made of. The declared total is kept as it stands rather than trimmed to the parts that are named, and the remainder is recorded as an open reconciliation rather than absorbed into a constituent that did not earn it.
  • These materials are used at a step of the modelled flow and are also carried by this dataset's own material list. Each is counted once, on that list, and the step does not book it again: Die Attach uses Die attach epoxy (Ag-filled conductive).

The flows above are this dataset's own records. What follows are the scope rules set once for the whole database in the methodology report, repeated here so every dataset page carries them.

Database-wide boundary policy — applies to every REEL dataset

These boundaries are set once for the whole database, in Chapter 2 of the methodology report, and apply to this dataset wherever they are relevant to it. The excluded flows listed above are specific to this dataset.

Use phase
Product operation is outside the cradle-to-gate scope.
End-of-life treatment
Recycling and disposal are outside the cradle-to-gate scope.
Distribution and retail
The gate is a finished component ready for integration into a higher-level assembly.
Inbound transport of raw materials
Transport of purchased raw materials to the manufacturing facility is already inside the upstream "market for" datasets that users link to a background database, so it is not modelled a second time here. This does not cover freight between REEL production stages, which is modelled where a dataset authors it.
Returnable shipping containers
Where freight between production stages is modelled, the mass moved is the product itself. The shipping container (FOSB, SEMI M31) is returnable capital equipment whose per-trip share is unsourced, so its tare is excluded from the transport effort.
Photomask fabrication
A mask set's embodied burden is amortised across a high-volume production run and is not attributed per wafer. Users assessing low-volume production should add mask fabrication separately; the methodology report gives the basis for the exclusion.
Employee transport, administration and R&D overhead
Employee transportation, facility administration and R&D/pilot-production overhead are outside scope.
Capital goods
Manufacturing equipment, cleanroom construction and facility infrastructure are excluded, on the grounds of absent public data on equipment embodied energy, uncertainty in equipment lifetime and allocation, common practice in electronics LCA, and a focus on the operational inventory. Future versions may include capital goods when sufficient public data becomes available.
Precious metal recovery credits
Scrap recovery credits for precious metals are excluded pending data availability.
Wafer reclaim
Test wafers and scrap are outside the system boundary.

Inside the boundary, linked rather than modelled

Silicon ingot growth and wafer slicing
Inside the cradle-to-gate scope, but treated as upstream material inputs linked to background databases rather than modelled as REEL processes.
Freight between production stages
Where a dataset's product moves between REEL production stages - wafer fabrication to the packaging site, for example - that leg is authored as a transport service and linked to an ecoinvent freight activity. It is measured as a transport effort in tonne-kilometres, not as a mass. Route distances are authored per route class with a stated band; a lower bound of zero is a modelling statement that the two sites can be co-located, not a missing value.

Cut-off criteria

A flow is excluded from a process inventory when it contributes less than 1 % of the total mass of inputs to that unit process, or less than 1 % of its total energy input. The denominator is total process inputs, not product mass. That distinction matters in semiconductor manufacturing, where the input mass of water, chemicals and gases greatly exceeds the product mass, so the threshold removes only genuinely minor flows.

Included regardless of the cut-off

  • Perfluorocarbons (CF4, C2F6, SF6, NF3) - high GWP, EPA regulated
  • Heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, Cr(VI)) - RoHS regulated, high toxicity
  • Volatile organics (photoresist solvents, PGMEA) - air quality
  • Precious metals (Au, Ag, Pd, Pt) - high embodied impacts
  • Ozone-depleting substances (legacy CFCs, HCFCs) - Montreal Protocol