An international team discovered a single material which produces white light to improve LED lighting efficiency. The renewable energy research was recently published in Nature with the article contributed by researchers from The University of Toledo, Monash University, Jilin University, University of Toronto, Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wuhan University. (Image: Pixabay) Dr. Yanfa Yan, professor of physics at The University of Toledo, explained, "Due to its high efficiency, this new material can potentially replace the curre...

Researchers at the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology have developed LEDs comprising infrared colloidal quantum dots that enable high efficiency and low cost CMOS integration. Colloidal quantum dots are extremely small semiconductor particles which are as small as a few nanometers in size. Featured with small size, CQDs offer unique optical and electronic properties including absorbing and emitting light. Moreover, their properties change with their size and shape, smaller quantum dots emit in the blue range while larger quantum dots emit in the red. (Ima...

Apple has applied a patent related to optoelectronics devices for improving LiDAR sensors and applications, reported Patently Apple. The report said that Apple noted the demands for applications using 3D sensing and imaging systems and proposed enhanced technologies to integrate LiDAR and VCSEL for advanced 3D image technology. The new patent introduce a method to combine different types of light source and laser array such as diffractive optical elements or VCSEL to develop improved 3D image devices for various applications. (Image: Apple) Patently Ap...

ThorDrive, an autonomous vehicle (AV) startup, has utilized LiDAR sensors of Velodyne to realize its commercial vehicle services. On November 29th, ThorDrive is introducing the service with a kick-off event in Palo Alto with attendants including local government and business leaders. The initial service, in partnership with Hassett ACE Hardware, will support select residents of Channing House (senior housing) and fire departments in Palo Alto with plans to expand to additional pilots soon. The ThorDrive platform is using Velodyne’s lidar sensors to provi...

AquiSense Technologies, a U.S. based UV-C LED systems developer, announced its partnership with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Washington University base on a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) for advanced development of UV LED disinfection system. Through the CRADA partnership, researchers at AquiSense and USEPA will work together at the National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) and at Washington University for developing UV LED integrated water sterilizatio...

LiDAR startup Luminar and Volvo Cars revealed their development in LiDAR perception for safe autonomous driving technology. Volvo has announced to invest in Luminar in June and became the first of its partners to develop advanced perception capabilities for vehicles. Volvo Cars has introduced its vision for full autonomy with its 360c concept and worked closely with Luminar. At the AutoMobility show in Los Angeles, the two companies jointly demonstrated long-range perception capabilities on a live drive along Los Angeles highways and streets to show Volvo Cars lo...

The Netherland-based research center, Holst Centre and Fraunhofer FEP have developed the world's longest single-device OLED which of 15 meters long. The development opens the door to 'endless OLEDs' that manufacturers and designers can then easily tailor to their own needs. Holst Centre and Fraunhofer FEP worked together through Lyteus, an EU founded public-private partnership organization which brings together leaders in OLED technology from across Europe to create an OLED pilot production line and product development services. Under the fr...

Combining LED technology and medical research, several integrations have been revealed, showing the potential of the technology in healthcare applications and development. LEDinside has collected some innovative examples of LED applications which create possibilities for future medical improvement. Elastic Micro LED skin sensor system In February 2018, a new ultrathin, elastic Micro LED display that fits snugly on the skin was developed by researchers at the University of Tokyo and Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) in an academic-industrial collaboration. The int...

Scientists have developed several types of LED including OLEDs, quantum-dot-based LEDs (QLED), perovskite-based LEDs and Micro LEDs for the purpose of enhancing the brightness, contrast and resolution of displays as well as to reduce the production cost and energy use. A new research published on Nature has illustrated a development of OLEDs using free radicals which generate doublet emission with higher efficiency. In the research, scientists from China and the UK have demonstrated radical-based OLEDs that could reach an external quantum efficiency of ...

A new study published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology reported that exposure to blue light would decrease blood pressure and reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. In previous studies, it is shown that UV light can help the skin to release nitric oxide and decrease blood pressure. Researchers from the University of Surrey and Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf have collaborated with Philips to learn whether body exposure to blue light also has the same effect as visible blue light is not carcinogenic compared to UV light. (Image: ...

Imec, the Belgium-based nanoelectronics research center, has worked with Ghent University and contact lens producer SEED to develop a contact lens integrated with LED light. The lens is presented at imec technology forum Japan (ITF Japan 2018) on November 19th, 2018. The contact lens with an integrated LED light is made of hydrogel-based material and is embedded with an ultra-thin silicon microchip, radio‐frequency (RF) antenna for wireless energy transfer, and stretchable thin‐film interconnections. imec and CMST, an imec research group at Ghent University...

U.S.-based material producer PPG and wireless power company Powercast have announced a joint development agreement to produce wirelessly powered printed electronics products for applications such as smart consumer packaging and smart ID cards. By leveraging the expertise from each other, the project will combine substrate and conductive inks from PPG and receiver technology of Powercast to develop LED-based wireless illumination solutions. With the technology, consumer packaging can light up itself to showcase products on a shelf. For smart ID cards, it can be illumina...

Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a flexible sensor embedded with red and infrared OLED which is able to map blood-oxygen levels over large areas of skin, tissue and organs. By tracking blood-oxygen, the OLED sensor could help to monitor healing wounds.

Apple has reportedly been granted a patent related to Micro LED display which provides an angle-of-view adjustment layer that involves holographic technology, according to an article by Patently Apple. The patent application, titled “Display with Holographic Angle-of-View Adjustment Structure” describes that by adding an angle-of-view adjustment layer on the array of display pixels, the viewing angle for users is enriched. The angle-of-viewing adjustment layer may be formed from holographic structure. (Image: the United States Patent and Trademark Offi...

With the drives from autonomous car development, LiDAR technology has been under the spotlight. Startups which focus on the technology have also gained attentions from the related industry and continued to unveil their development and updates about the technology. Luminar, a LiDAR startup that aim to increase the accessibility of the technology, has recruited Brent Schwarz, a veteran in the LiDAR sensor industry who has experiences at Velodyne and established his own company, Tyto LiDAR. As his LiDAR startup was acquired by Otto, which was then bought by Uber...

Pioneer and MooVita, an A*STAR spinoff company focusing on autonomous vehicle, are going to initiate a trial run of an autonomous shuttle bus equipped with Pioneer’s 3D-LiDAR sensor within the campus of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The two companies expect to commercialize the service of the level four autonomous driving with the testing.

UV LEDs are widely applied in medical equipment and household products for sterilization. A Danish research team has further found that by combining treatment with UV irradiation, it helps to increase the effect of bacteria eradication of antibiotics. The light assisted approach can therefore reduce the usage amount of antibiotics. (Image: Pixabay) The overuse of antibiotics could result in bacterial resistance and in the worst case lead to incurable diseases. In order to prevent this situation, researchers are trying to find alternative treatments to reduce the use of an...

Researchers in the industry and in the academic field have dedicated their efforts to overcome the difficulties of Micro LED display technologies. Currently the bottlenecks of the technology lie in six major areas including mass transferring process, the production of epitaxial wafer, method for full-color display, driver IC design, backplanes and testing and repair technology. One of the articles awarded with honorable mention in the Micro LED Technology Research Contest hosted by LEDinside has focused on the method for full-color display. The article, titled “Q...

On October 30th, a patent was granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to Apple for its “Exterior Lighting and Warning System” which uses a lighting system to indicate warnings and information from the outside of a car, reported Appleinsider.

Vertical integrated LED company Lextar is going to announce its I-Mini Square module for automotive tail lamp application. Adopted with Lextar’s latest Mini LED technology, this automotive module can display dynamic images with RGB full color screens. Lextar will debut its concept of application at the biannual Electronica 2018 held in Munich from November 13th to 16th. According to the company,

Researchers at KAIST have achieved high efficiency with OLED without using macroscopic lens. They used an external scattering medium to achieve an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of more than 50 percent in OLED stimulation. The research, led by Professor Seunghyup Yoo and PhD candidate Jinouk Song, was published in Nature Communications on August 10th, 2018. 

The Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP (Fraunhofer FEP) has presented OLED microdisplays for VR glasses and introduced a tool set for AR applications using its OLED microdisplays. The German institute has showcased a prototype of VR glasses and the new displays at AWE Europe 2018 and will debut the AR application tool kits during electronica 2018 in Munich Germany. 

Researchers from the University of Houston have devised a new machine learning algorithm that can identify suitable materials for LED lighting. The new algorithm can be run on a personal computer and predict the properties of more than 100,000 compounds in search of those most likely to be efficient phosphors for LED lighting. The result of the research was published on October 22nd in Nature Communications.

A Spanish research team has developed a new light emitting material which generates light source that is similar to the sun and reduces the harmfulness of blue light. The result was published in Materials Horizons in September 2018. 

A European Apple patent application related to the technology of Micro LED display was published, reported Patently Apple.

  Scientists have continuously worked on improving the performance of LED. LED based on Perovskite (PLED) could be a new approach. Scientists have found out that the performance of the material surpasses OLED and that it could be processed with low cost solutions. Two research teams have published their studies of perovskite LED on Nature in October, notifying the potential of its further development.

Dr. Hiroshi Amano, a 2014 Nobel laureate in physics, delivered a lecture at Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan on October 3rd, sharing his research progress on GaN blue LED with Prof. Isamu Akasaki and how he has transferred his research focus from blue LED to UV LED and GaN power. He also highlighted the potential applications of GaN technology in the era of IoT and 5G. 

Dr. Hiroshi Amano, Nobel Laureate in Physics 2014, will deliver a lecture on October 3rd at Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. The topic of the lecture is “The History of the Development of Blue & UV-LEDs and Their Future Prospects.”

Held on September 20th in Taipei, Taiwan, Imec Technology Forum Taiwan has gathered professionals from Imec’s R&D center to present their cutting edge technology and achievements in hardware-software integration.

A research project led by Brunel University London and a consortium of partners including Marks & Spencer, Tata Steel and AIXTRON plans to reduce the production cost of flexible OLED lighting panels to bring more options for lighting.