Trends

Trends

Technology | Jan 26, 2011
Voiding Defects: New Technique Makes LED Lighting More Efficient
Voiding Defects: New Technique Makes LED Lighting More Efficient Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are an increasingly popular technology for use in energy-efficient lighting. Researchers from North Carolina State University have now developed a new technique that reduces defects in the gallium nitride (GaN) films used to create LEDs, making them more efficient. Read more »
Technology | Jan 18, 2011
Intematix Introduces ChromaLit™ Remote Phosphor Lighting Systems
Intematix Introduces ChromaLit™ Remote Phosphor Lighting Systems ChromaLit™ leverages a phosphor composite precisely layered onto a substrate, separated from the blue LED energy source. The independent phosphor emits light when excited by blue light. Because the phosphor has been separated from the energy source and can now be made in any shape and any color, unidirectional light, hot spots, inconsistency and design limitations are no longer SSL challenges. Read more »
Technology | Dec 22, 2010
Quantum Dots Are Not Dots
Quantum Dots Are Not Dots Researchers from the Quantum Photonics Group at DTU Fotonik in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen surprise the scientific world with the discovery that light emission from solid-state photon emitters, the so-called quantum dots, is fundamentally different than hitherto believed. The new insight may find important applications as a way to improve efficiency of quantum information devices. Their findings are published on December 19th 2010 in the prestigious journal Nature Physics. Read more »
Technology | Dec 15, 2010
Power Integrations Introduces Reference Design for 5 W LED Lamps with PFC and Flicker-Free TRIAC Dimming
Power Integrations Introduces Reference Design for 5 W LED Lamps with PFC and Flicker-Free TRIAC Dimming Power Integrations, the leader in high-voltage integrated circuits for energy-efficient solid-state lighting, today announced a new reference design (RDK-251) for a 5-watt offline LED driver that includes flicker-free TRIAC dimming and single-stage power factor correction (PFC). The reference design is based on Power Integrations' LNK457DG, a member of the innovative LinkSwitch-PL family of LED driver ICs optimized for compact, non-isolated installations. Read more »
Technology | Nov 22, 2010
MIT Study: Significant Energy Savings through User-Controlled Efficient Lighting Systems
MIT Study: Significant Energy Savings through User-Controlled Efficient Lighting Systems These days, in newer buildings it’s often hard even to find a plain old-fashioned light switch. Often, the only controls are automatic motion-detector switches that turn off lights when people have left a room — or when they sit too still — or else daunting control panels with arrays of sliders and buttons. But some researchers at the MIT Media Lab are aiming to put the controls back in people’s hands, in a way that provides sophisticated and continuous control and could slash lighting bills by more than half. Read more »
Technology | Oct 04, 2010
Using Nanostructures to Improve LED Light Emission
Using Nanostructures to Improve LED Light Emission Application of nanosphere lithography to create uniform surface roughness on an optical device sample promotes light extraction and collection efficiency. In recent years, nanopattern definition has become a subject of extensive exploration owing to its ability to improve device performance in electronics and optoelectronics. The literature proposes a variety of techniques, including electron-beam lithography, which gives uniform nanopatterns but is expensive, and self-assembled metal nanomasks, which scatter nonuniformly on the sample. As an alternative, we have developed a technology called nanosphere lithography that creates nanopatterns by spin-coating a monolayer of nanospheres on top of the device surface. We have used the technology to fabricate nanopatterns on gallium nitride (GaN)-based LEDs to improve light extraction and collection efficiency. Read more »
Technology | Sep 08, 2010
Philips Demonstrates World’s First Mains-Powered White-Light OLED Module
Philips Demonstrates World’s First Mains-Powered White-Light OLED Module Scientists from Philips Research have developed the first-ever organic light emitting diode (OLED) module that can be powered directly from a mains electricity supply. The prototype opens the door to OLED systems that can be directly plugged into standard power outlets without the need for bulky power management circuitry. This will reduce the bill of materials and simplify luminaire design for future OLED-based systems aimed at mass-market general illumination applications. Read more »
Technology | Aug 06, 2010
LED Failure Modes and Methods for Analysis
LED Failure Modes and Methods for Analysis LED’s open the way to new applications and markets in various different fields with a broad spectrum of requirements. Beneath other beneficial characteristics, in general, LED’s provide a high reliability, and a lifetime of more than 50;000 hours can be reached. Poor workmanship in manufacturing and unfavorable operational conditions may reduce the reliability significantly. To avoid failures or to achieve fast resolutions of existing problems a good knowledge of the failure mechanisms and suitable analytical methods is required. Objective of this article is to provide an overview of state of the art techniques in LED-Failure analysis. Read more »
Technology | Aug 06, 2010
LED Source Modeling Method Evaluations
LED Source Modeling Method Evaluations Producing accurate simulations of LED based optical systems requires accurate source models. This means the source models must not only produce the correct distribution of light in a far field measurement, they must also produce the correct near field behavior since secondary LED optics are often employed in very close proximity to the LED. Accurate simulations are vital to the design process especially with lens optics commonly used on LEDs given the high cost and long lead times for lens tooling. The data presented in this paper is a direct result of the lessons learned by one manufacturer about the importance of simulation accuracy. Read more »
Technology | Aug 04, 2010
Thermally Activated Degradation of Phosphor-Converted White LEDs
Thermally Activated Degradation of Phosphor-Converted White LEDs The increasing performances and long lifetime of High Brightness LEDs are still limited by the high temperatures involved. This work shows the results of several accelerated lifetime tests on 1W white LEDs. Two different tests have been carried out: a pure thermal storage at different temperatures and an electrical aging obtained by biasing the LEDs. The impact of high temperatures has been evaluated in terms of flux decay, chromatic properties modification, increase of forward voltage and thermal resistance. A picture of the main degradation mechanisms detected has been provided in detail. Read more »
Technology | Jul 29, 2010
Method May Help Optimize Light-emitting Semiconductors
Method May Help Optimize Light-emitting Semiconductors Physicists at JILA have demonstrated an ultrafast laser technique for "seeing" once-hidden electronic behavior in semiconductors, which eventually could be useful in more predictable design of optoelectronic devices, including semiconductor lasers and white light-emitting diodes. Read more »
Technology | Jul 29, 2010
Paint-on semiconductor outperforms chips
Paint-on semiconductor outperforms chips Researchers at the University of Toronto have created a semiconductor device that outperforms today's conventional chips -- and they made it simply by painting a liquid onto a piece of glass. Read more »
Technology | Jul 29, 2010
Novel Nano-Etched Cavity Makes LEDs 7 Times Brighter
Novel Nano-Etched Cavity Makes LEDs 7 Times Brighter Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs) more than seven times brighter by etching nanoscale grooves in a surrounding cavity to guide scattered light in one direction. Read more »
Technology | Jul 29, 2010
QD Vision chief technologist Seth Coe-Sullivan named top innovator by Tech Review Magazine: MIT journal honors 35 top scientific and technology innovators under the age of 35
WATERTOWN, MA, SQD Vision, Inc. announced that Cofounder and Chief Technologist Seth Coe-Sullivan has been recognized by Technology Review as one of the world’s Top Science and Technology Innovators under the age of 35 for his breakthrough work in quantum dot LED performance and manufacturing process technology. Read more »
Technology | Jul 29, 2010
Organic semiconductors make cheap, flexible photovoltaics and LEDs
Organic semiconductors make cheap, flexible photovoltaics and LEDs Imagine T-shirts that light up, or a beach umbrella that collects solar energy to run a portable TV. How about really cheap solar collectors for the roof? All this and more could come from cutting-edge research at Cornell that demonstrates a new type of organic semiconductor device which shows electroluminescence and acts as a photovoltaic cell. Read more »
Technology | Jul 29, 2010
QD Vision improves quantum-dot LED performance
WATERTOWN, Mass., QD Vision, Inc., announced it has achieved significant improvements in efficiency of its red quantum-dot light-emitting devices (QD-LEDs). The trend of improvements in brightness, color, resolution and other metrics continue to advance QD- LEDs toward best-in-class performance levels among display technologies. Read more »
Technology | Jul 29, 2010
MIT chemist studies how electrons behave
MIT chemist studies how electrons behave New spin on electrons could improve lights, other devices. Troy Van Voorhis likes to watch how things work. This natural curiosity led to his current research on the behavior of electrons and how they function in various molecular systems, including artificial photosynthesis. Read more »
Technology | Jul 29, 2010
Team awarded for better bulb discovery
A team of scientists at Vanderbilt University have been given an award from Popular Mechanics magazine for a discovery that could someday replace the common light bulb, the researchers say. Read more »
Technology | Jul 29, 2010
Cheaper LEDs from breakthrough in ZnO nanowire research
Cheaper LEDs from breakthrough in ZnO nanowire research Engineers at UC San Diego have synthesized a long-sought semiconducting material that may pave the way for an inexpensive new kind of light emitting diode (LED) that could compete with today's widely used gallium nitride LEDs, according to a new paper in the journal Nano Letters. Read more »
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