Subscription Center
New ways of making light-emitting diodes (LEDs) could lead to brighter, more energy-efficient video screens and lighting
August 21, 2009 | 9
Researchers are developing ways to create "micro-LED" displays that can be printed on a thin sheet of plastic and could even be wrapped around a finger....[More]
This image depicts a transparent micro-LED display, placed in front of a university logo pattern.
[Link to this slide]
This microscopic image depicts an ultrathin, micro LED (in red), such as the ILEDs described by Rogers, in a suspended layout so it can be released from its growth wafer, making the wafer reusable....[More]
This stretchable display consists of an interconnected mesh of printed micro LEDs bonded to a rubber surface.
[Link to this slide]
This image depicts an array of micro LEDs (black squares) printed onto a sheet of plastic, wrapped on a curved support with a university logo pattern in the background.
[Link to this slide]
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
Look Out!: Ann Arbor Cars to Communicate with One Another to Avoid Crashes [Slide Show]
The Efficient Future of Deep-Space Travel--Electric Rockets
Robot Pack Mule to Carry Loads for G.I.s on the Move
Cool It: Is the Internet Too Hot for Data Centers to Handle?
AI Me-Rector Sets: Self-Assembling Robotic Cubes Can Replicate Objects [Video]
Cyber Sensitive: Therapeutic Buddy Bots Get Emotional
Can Robots Be Programmed to Learn from Their Own Experiences?
Hacking the Lights Out: The Computer Virus Threat to the Electrical Grid
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
9 Comments
Add CommentLEDs are the inexpensive energy-saving lights of the future. For several years we have all colors of LEDs out into the public domain, except inexpensive full spectrum white. Present LEDs for light bulbs available at about $10 & up depending on light level...price coming down fast. Most still use transformers but energy levels are around 4 watts for 60 watt equivalent and lifetimes of many thousands of hours....much longer life, more durable, half the wattage & better light balance, compared to the mercury-containing CFLs. Recent developments at Cambridge have produced inexpensive white light LEDs with no transformer, AC or DC use, and 110 or 220 volts. ,...especially useful for those off grid on solar and wind power. Even at $14 each, a local church is converting to the current white light LED recessed ceiling lights....one contribution at a time...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJames Beal
EMF Interface Consulting
Is there a spectral power distribution available for this device>
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPete
Maybe we should be building houses with a low voltage power supply suitable for LED illumination. One more conductor and use the neutral line for return
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat picture is funny, it says "click to enlarge", but the new picture is actually smaller.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI always thought that the LED will be the future light source, it is very economical and use less electricity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWith only a single ultra-bright white LED (3 watts) inside a small flashlight, this low energy consumption and highly emitting luminence flashligh that seems to be a useful toy for most people who need to walk in the darkness nights!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisyes the 'bike lights' are the future, changes from metal halide and other flourescents are being made in many lighting applications.from flashlights to traffic lights, retail and residential this push for more and more sustainable options will lead to even more creative use. visual designers are replacing the colored gels for computer programmed LED effects proving more flexible and dynamic.. the latest home-ware sustainable option being the compact flourescent however given time i believe this will also turn electronic.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article doesn't talk about how to dissipate the heat from these new tiny LEDs. LEDs generate less heat for the amount of light they produce than other forms of lighting, but that heat is concentrated in a very tiny spot, sometimes requiring things like heatsinks to get rid of it. Will these new tiny LEDs be able to dump their heat somehow? The problem will become worse when those tiny LEDs are packed together in flat-screen displays.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCome to that, how do OLED displays dump their heat? Or is that an issue at all?
Lot's of interesting comments here. LED sources look very promising and they are approaching widespread viability very rapidly. They are not a panacea however. The best commercial white light LED's now offer about 40 lumens per watt and are very expensive compared to conventional sources. They are not viable in high wattage applications and most suffer color rendering indexes in the 70-80 CRI range and unfavorable monochromatic color temperatures. Fixture and lamp design is in it's infancy right now with many inelegant designs attempting to deal with the heat issue. But as many have stated, they are coming fast. They remind me of the first big screen TV's way before the flat screen revolution we have seen recently.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this