SEOUL, South Korea, May 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — ROOTS CO., LTD., a company with proprietary Phosphor in Glass (PiG) technology—an essential optical component in automotive headlights—has successfully developed an ultra-compact 450㎛ PiG optimized for next-generation smart multi-beam headlights. This achievement marks a significant evolution of existing PiG technology, further strengthening ROOTS’s technological capabilities and enhancing its competitiveness in the global market.
ROOTS, a company with proprietary Phosphor in Glass (PiG) technology
ROOTS, a South Korean company specializing in high-power LED PiG components, semi-conductor-related parts, and chemical products, began developing PiG technology in the mid-2010s based on semiconductor processing techniques. PiG, a component combining phosphor and glass, plays a critical role in determining the optical characteristics of various high-power lighting products, including automotive headlights, daytime running lights (DRLs), and turn signals.
In the automotive industry, demand for advanced lighting technologies, such as smart multi-beam headlights, has surged in recent years, leading to the development of various high-power LED modules. Among them, PiG technology plays a crucial role in delivering high brightness, excellent viewing angles (low color shift with angle), and optimized contrast ratios (low variation in contrast). To meet these requirements, ROOTS has continuously advanced its process technologies based on semiconductor manufacturing techniques to optimize PiG performance.
Notably, ROOTS carries out the entire PiG manufacturing process in-house, overseeing every step from the fabrication and processing of PiG glass and phosphor wafers (including wafer fabrication, thinning, and polishing) to the final PiG chip production. As a result of these comprehensive capabilities, ROOTS’s proprietary PiG technology has been recognized as a groundbreaking and innovative solution in the market, earning the company the NET (New Excellent Technology) certification from the Korean government.
The newly developed ultra-compact 450㎛ PiG is optimized for smart multi-beam headlights and has achieved outstanding results in enhancing key performance metrics such as beam straightness, COA (Color of Angle) viewing angle, and luminance. Despite its reduced size, the miniaturized PiG maintains high performance, enabling more compact headlight modules while meeting the next-generation demands for miniaturization and high efficiency in advanced automotive lighting systems.
Building on its expertise in LED and semiconductor processing technologies, ROOTS not only leads in PiG innovation but also demonstrates strong specialization across a wide range of semiconductor-related products. The company has successfully localized key materials—previously dominated by a few global players—such as silica slurry for silicon wafer backside polishing, diamond slurry for sapphire wafers, neutral flux cleaners, eco-friendly solder mask removers, and chemical agents for laser coating, all with equivalent performance. Through these achievements, ROOTS delivers advanced chemical solutions across the entire semiconductor processing spectrum.
With the development of its ultra-compact PiG, ROOTS plans to expand its technology beyond the smart automotive lighting market into various other industrial sectors. By pursuing sustainable technological innovation and differentiated product development, the company aims to further solidify its position in the global market.
The successful development of the ultra-compact PiG reaffirms ROOTS’s position as a leading innovator in next-generation technologies for automotive lighting, including smart multi-beam headlights.
To learn more about ROOTS, please visit https://www.rootsmaterials.com/.
