Technologies & Research

LpR Article | Technologies | Sep 05, 2016
Technologies for Engineering an LED Light Closest to Sunlight
Technologies for Engineering an LED Light Closest to Sunlight TRI-R is a next-generation LED light source made possible by Toshiba Materials technology and commercialization together with TOL STUDIO. Using natural light that recreates the solar spectrum, TRI-R suppresses glare, prevents the loss of object color, and gives fresher, clearer expression to textures and details. Based on professional research examining the relationship light has with humans and the environment, this is illumination technology that provides the world surrounding us with the true and real value of light. Masahiko Yamakawa, Senior Specialist of Toshiba Materials Co.LTD., presents how this technology was developed and applied in some projects. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Medical | Aug 11, 2016
High-End White Light Sources Fiber Optics Technology for Medical Applications
High-End White Light Sources Fiber Optics Technology for Medical Applications Often technologies that are too expensive for the mass market at the beginning are already adopted in medical applications. When reaching a certain level of maturity, costs usually become more reasonable and adaptations for the consumer market begins. Holger Laabs, Oliver Mehl and Henning Rehn from Osram GmbH present a light source technology and its prerequisites for fiber optics that could become one of these technologies. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Aug 11, 2016
Concepts to Overcome Lifetime Issues of LED Drivers
Concepts to Overcome Lifetime Issues of LED Drivers Lighting technology has changed significantly in recent years after a century of little to modest advancements. LED luminaires offer advancement in lower power consumption and expected life. Maggie Nadjmi, EE Product Manager at SL Power Electronics, explains why this new technology will probably not meet the life and reliability expectations if no attention is paid to the drivers and power supplies used to power LEDs. She discusses the main components affecting lifetime and how to eliminate them or design a product to still achieve the desired lifetime. Read more »
Technologies | Thermal Management | Jul 14, 2016
Engineered “Sand” May Help Cool Electronic Devices and LEDs
Engineered “Sand” May Help Cool Electronic Devices and LEDs Giorgia Tech Research reports that Baratunde Cola, associated professor at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, would like to put sand into your computer and other electronic devices. Not beach sand, but silicon dioxide nanoparticles coated with a high dielectric constant polymer to inexpensively provide improved cooling for increasingly power-hungry electronic devices. Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | Light Generation | Quality | Jul 11, 2016
The Right Light for Fashion Retail, Fresh Food and Restaurants - More than just CCT and CRI
The Right Light for Fashion Retail, Fresh Food and Restaurants - More than just CCT and CRI Lumileds recently introduced their Luxeon Stylist Series to support fashion, retail, fresh food sales and restaurants. Lumileds calls their proprietary technology for CoB LEDs CrispWhite Technology, CrispColor Technology™, FreshFocus Technology™ and AtmoSphere Technology™ depending on the focus. In preparation for the product release, Rick Hamburger, Senior Director of Product Management, Eric Senders, Product Line Director CoB, Luis Acena, Senior Manager, Luxeon Stylist Series, Kevin Lucido, Senior Director of Global Marketing Communications discussed the technology and features of the new product series with Arno Grabher-Meyer from LED professional. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jul 01, 2016
How Silicones are Evolving to Meet the Growing Needs of the LED Lighting Industry by Dow Corning
How Silicones are Evolving to Meet the Growing Needs of the LED Lighting Industry by Dow Corning There are different materials for optics in lighting applications. The lighting application engineers François de Buyl, Martijn Beukema and Kevin van Tiggelen from Dow Corning are convinced that silicone’s unique qualities help to expand options in the design and molding of LED packaging components, as well as components for lamp and luminaire applications. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 29, 2016
Optical Lithography Method for Advanced Light Extraction in LEDs
Optical Lithography Method for Advanced Light Extraction in LEDs Objective material selection for various target applications is key for successful product development. Efficient light extraction features are crucial for highly efficient LEDs. Thomas Uhrmann and Harun Solak, et.al* from EV Group and Eulitha AG will demonstrate a novel lithography method, PHABLE™, that enables the printing of sub-μm patterns in a non-contact, proximity process. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 28, 2016
High-Index Nanocrystals - Key to Next Generation Advancements in Lighting
High-Index Nanocrystals - Key to Next Generation Advancements in Lighting Solid-State Lighting is destined to be a next generation lighting option. LEDs have already entered main stream applications and OLED technology has advanced greatly in the past few years in terms of efficacy and performance. Both technologies need to continue to improve performance to achieve high market acceptance. Dr. Gregory Cooper, Chief Technology Officer and Founder of Pixelligent Technologies LLC, illustrates how LED and OLED technology can advance to the next level by incorporating nanomaterials into existing packaging. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 28, 2016
MOCVD Platform for Cost-Effective Production of GaN-based HB LEDs
MOCVD Platform for Cost-Effective Production of GaN-based HB LEDs GaN-based blue and ultraviolet light emitting diodes (LEDs) are steadily becoming more widely used in solid-state lighting (SSL) applications [1-3]. Enabling dramatic energy savings when compared to contemporary incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lamps, these high-brightness LEDs (HB-LEDs) have a market potential in the billions of dollars. Yole Development estimates that by 2017, the market for LEDs will be approximately $75 billion [4, 5]. Shiping Guo, the Senior Technology Director of Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. presents a new approach to support this goal with a cost effective MOCVD solution for HB-GaN LED manufacturing. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 28, 2016
OLED Technology in Lighting Applications
OLED Technology in Lighting Applications Prototypes and niche applications with OLEDs for lighting have been demonstrated over the past few years. Now there are indications that OLED technology is ready for mass production or at least will be ready very soon. Franco Musiari, Technology Specialist at ASSODEL analyzed the current status and future perspectives of OLED technology. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 28, 2016
LED and Lens Degradation Through Volatile Organic Compounds
LED and Lens Degradation Through Volatile Organic Compounds In general, LEDs are very resistant light sources. Nevertheless, glues, conformal coatings, o-rings, gaskets, and potting compounds, all materials that are frequently used in the construction of LED based luminaires or lamps and often contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may have a negative impact on performance, reliability and lifetime. Edward Steinke, application engineer at Cree, explains the set of problems and how to prevent these issues based on Cree’s products, using their test kit components, as well as components for lamp and luminaire applications. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 28, 2016
Reliability Oriented Design of LED-Based Light Sources
Reliability Oriented Design of LED-Based Light Sources The transition from traditional light sources to SSL systems requires a different design philosophy to achieve the advantages offered by LED light sources. The key approach is based on the parallel design of thermal, electrical, optical and spectral properties of the light source. Matteo Meneghini, Gaudenzio Meneghesso, Enrico Zanoni and Matteo Dal Lago from the Department of Information Engineering at the University of Padova, and Nicola Trivellin from LightCube SRL explain this approach including the importance of the electrical management of LEDs, comparing modulation techniques to constant current, differentiating between versatility and efficiency. Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | Light Conversion | Jun 23, 2016
New Phosphor Promises Cheaper and more Efficient Next-Generation LED Lighting
New Phosphor Promises Cheaper and more Efficient Next-Generation LED Lighting Researchers from KU Leuven (Belgium), the University of Strasbourg, and CNRS have discovered a new phosphor that could make next-generation fluorescent and LED lighting even cheaper and more efficient. The team used highly luminescent clusters of silver atoms and the porous framework of minerals known as zeolites. Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | Laser | Light Conversion | LiFi | Jun 23, 2016
Perovskite Phosphor Provides High Quality White Light and Boosts VLC
Perovskite Phosphor Provides High Quality White Light and Boosts VLC Mark Peplow recently reported on the Chemical & Engineering News website about the latest encouraging research results from a research team from CEMSE and KAUST. The researchers found that combination of solution-processed CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) with a conventional red phosphor produces high quality white light when pumped with a blue LED or laser. Furthermore excited-state lifetime is short enough to provide record-breaking high bandwidth for visible light communication (VLC), aka LiFi. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 21, 2016
Safety Issues for LED Drivers with PWM Operation Modes by Product Approvals Ltd.
Safety Issues for LED Drivers with PWM Operation Modes by Product Approvals Ltd. In many cases LED drivers manage their output power with PWM controlled switched mode power supply-topologies. The output voltages are filtered and normally DC voltages with low ripple apply at the output connectors of LED drivers. During dimming these circuits can behave very differently and therefore safety issues may arise. Siegfried Luger, CEO at Luger Research e.U. and John Showell, Product Safety Consultant at Product Approvals Ltd. have a closer look at those operation modes and the requirements on voltage limits. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 21, 2016
Optimization of SSL LED Devices by Osram Opto Semiconductors
Optimization of SSL LED Devices by Osram Opto Semiconductors There are different levers to improve LED performance. Ralph Bertram, application engineer for SSL products, and Alexander Wilm, key expert in the SSL application engineering department at Osram Opto Semiconductors, have a look into the device itself and explore the principal limitations of the different contributors to device efficacy. They show how to balance driving current and chip size to define the right LED, and explain the impact on performance and system costs of LED packages for the intended lighting task approaches for lighting strategies. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 20, 2016
LED Light Spectrum Enhancement with Transparent Pigmented Glazes
LED Light Spectrum Enhancement with Transparent Pigmented Glazes While LED bulbs have the distinct economic advantages of using less energy, producing less heat and lasting years longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, when objects are viewed under LED light, they frequently appear to be of different colors than when viewed in sunlight or with incandescent lights. Jan-Marie A Spanard from Light Spectrum Glazes proposes and explains an approach to optimize the spectral distribution of LED light to overcome this weakness. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 20, 2016
High Color-Rendering, Full-Visible-Spectrum LEDs by Soraa
High Color-Rendering, Full-Visible-Spectrum LEDs by Soraa The first wave of conventional white LEDs primarily focused on lumens per Watt. These LEDs were based on phosphor down-conversion using primary blue “pump” emission. Currently LEDs are catching up in regards to light quality using different approaches. Aurelien David, Senior Principal Scientist and Mike Krames, Chief Technology Officer at Soraa explain their technology approach of violet-pumped, full-visible-spectrum LEDs, and the interrelated challenges and advantages. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 08, 2016
InGaN Nanowires Make Light Mixing Efficient and Smart
InGaN Nanowires Make Light Mixing Efficient and Smart The correlated color temperature (CCT) of high color rendering index (CRI) LED lighting systems can, in principle, be tuned over a wide range. As an alternative approach to conventional phosphor based LEDs, a full-color LED array consisting of red, green and blue (RGB) InGaN based nanowire LEDs monolithically integrated on a micro-scale level has been proposed and fabricated. J. Lee from the Nano Electronics Lab at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Renjie Wang, Hieu P. T. Nguyen, Ashfiqua T. Connie, Ishiang Shih, and Zetian Mi from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McGill University in Montreal explain how this technology works and how the three multi-color subpixels on the same chip can be separately biased and can exhibit full-color emission which can be tuned controllably in a wide CCT range. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 08, 2016
Mastering Thermal Issues in LED PCB Design & Laminate Selection by Ventec Europe
Mastering Thermal Issues in LED PCB Design & Laminate Selection by Ventec Europe LED applications are not the only applications that are driving the need for thermal issues to be considered and mastered in PCB design, but they are certainly amongst the most challenging. Designing LED PCBs requires many considerations and key are those that arise from multiple heat sources in close proximity. Martin Cotton, Director OEM Technology of Ventec Europe describes the process and criteria used when designing PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) for use in LED applications using thermally conductive IMS (Insulated Metal Substrates). He goes into technical detail with charts and diagrams that explain everything the designer would need to consider when selecting a laminate and commencing a design. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 07, 2016
New Class of Siloxane Polymers for Advanced LED Packaging
New Class of Siloxane Polymers for Advanced LED Packaging Packaging presents a major challenge to further improve LED device efficiency and reliability. A novel class of high stability siloxanes forms a technology platform to address such opportunities in die attach, encapsulation, and light outcoupling applications. Dr. Juha Rantala, CEO & Founder, Dr. Joerg Rockenberger, Director Application & Business Development, Dr. Jyri Paulasaari, Vice President Technology, Dr. Jarkko Heikkinen, Director Inks & Pastes. Markus Laukkanen, Application Manager, and Dr. Janne Kylmä, Vice President Engineering & Production at Inkron Oy explain the material properties and give examples of how these new materials in combination with novel nanomaterials enable products fully compatible with current process tools and flows while having superior properties. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | Jun 03, 2016
Cost and Performance Optimization of Thermal Management Solution for High Power LEDs by Cambridge Nanotherm
Cost and Performance Optimization of Thermal Management Solution for High Power LEDs by Cambridge Nanotherm The LED industry has a challenge. General lighting requires very bright LEDs that can replace incandescent and halogen lights. Manufacturers need efficacy, cost and manufacturability to be “just right” but most leading solutions, especially in thermal management, are short of the mark. Giles Humpston, applications engineer, Cambridge Nanotherm, discusses ways to combine performance with reasonable costs and good manufacturability. Read more »
Resources | Fundings | EU-Calls | Technologies
EU Call: FET-Open Research and Innovation Actions
This call is open for any kind of research on future and emerging technologies (FET) in early stages. Proposals should cover high-risk, interdisciplinary research on radically new technologies. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | May 24, 2016
Create Colorful and Bright LED Light with an LED Matrix Dimmer by Linear Technology
Create Colorful and Bright LED Light with an LED Matrix Dimmer by Linear Technology RGB LEDs are quite common and used in many applications today. More advanced multi-color solutions like RGBW, RGBA or RGBWA offer huge advantages over RGB solutions, but several aspects are more complicated. Keith Szolusha, applications engineering section leader for power products at Linear Technology explains the advantages of RGBW systems, how they work, how to set up such systems, and how to drive them correctly using Linear Technology’s LT3965 8-switch LED matrix dimmer in combination with the LT3952 boost-buck LED driver as an example. Read more »
LpR Article | Technologies | May 19, 2016
3-Pad LED Flip Chip COB by Flip Chip Opto
3-Pad LED Flip Chip COB by Flip Chip Opto Wafer level packaging and flip chip design are the most recent trends in LED manufacturing and packaging. These LED types are perfectly suited for producing COB modules. This combination already promises better thermal performance than standard SMD package based products. However, there is still room for improvements. Pao Chen, Director of Research and Development at Flip Chip Opto shows how a 3-pad flip chip LED further reduces thermal resistance, allows higher power and can help to reduce costs. Read more »
Technologies | OLEDs | Light Conversion | May 13, 2016
Research on OLEDs with Ultrathin Emissive Layers and a Spacer-Free Structure
Research on OLEDs with Ultrathin Emissive Layers and a Spacer-Free Structure Since C.W Tang demonstrated the first organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on a double-layer structure of organic materials in 1987, flat-panel displays and lighting applications based on OLED technology have grown dramatically because of their attractive features such as ultra-thin structure, light-weight and flexibility. To achieve a desirable OLED performance, a host-dopant system is adopted. This not only leads to an increase in material cost and device processing time, but also makes it difficult to control dopant concentration accurately. Therefore, OLEDs with dopant-free and ultrathin emissive layers (UEMLs) have aroused much attention. Shengfan Wu, Sihua Li, Qi Sun, Chenchao Huang & Man-Keung Fung recently published the results of their research on such ultrathin emissive layers (UEMLs) of phosphorescent materials for OLED applications. Read more »
Technologies | Smart Lighting + IoT | Apr 05, 2016
The “Internet of Light” – the Key to the “Internet of Things”
The “Internet of Light” – the Key to the “Internet of Things” The Internet of Things is the next industrial revolution. As a specialist for innovative lighting components and systems, Tridonic is convinced that lighting will play a decisive role in the Internet of Things (IoT). Therefore, Tridonic developed the toolbox net4more which will not only connect luminaires with each other, but deliver an added value that goes far beyond lighting. Where do we stand today? Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | White LEDs | Feb 25, 2016
Cree Announces Outstanding R&D LED Efficacy Combined with Superior Color Quality
Cree Announces Outstanding R&D LED Efficacy Combined with Superior Color Quality Cree, Inc. records another LED industry first with the demonstration of a single high-power LED delivering nearly 1,600 lumens at 134 lumens-per-watt (LPW) with similar color quality as an incandescent light bulb. With this result, Cree achieved a breakthrough 25 percent increase in lumens per watt (LPW) over production LEDs of similar color quality under operating conditions found in real-world LED lighting applications. This important milestone coupled with Cree’s latest SC5 Technology™ platform will lead to LED systems with increased performance, lower cost and better light. Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | GaN-on-Si | Jan 18, 2016
Plessey Builds LEDs in Cubic GaN on 3C-SiC/Si To Overcome The Green Gap
Plessey Builds LEDs in Cubic GaN on 3C-SiC/Si To Overcome The Green Gap Plessey, Anvil Semiconductors and the University of Cambridge announced today that they are working together to fabricate high efficiency LEDs in cubic GaN grown on Anvil's 3C-SiC / Si substrates. Cubic GaN has the potential to overcome the problems caused in conventional LEDs by the strong internal electric fields which impair carrier recombination and contribute to efficiency droop. This is particularly true for green LEDs where the internal electric fields are stronger and are believed to cause a rapid reduction in efficiency at green wavelengths known as "the green gap". The availability of cubic GaN from a readily commercialisable process on large diameter silicon wafers is as a key enabler for increasing the efficiency of green LEDs and reducing the cost of LED lighting. Read more »
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