Japanese Chemical engineering firm Showa Denko K.K. has cooperated with Masayoshi Shigyo, a professor at Yamaguchi University’s Faculty of Agriculture, to develop new LED lighting technology to spur plant growth in factory controlled conditions, by changing the blue-red ratio through each stage of a plant's development. The technology shortens the growth period of leaf lettuce, for example, to two weeks from three weeks using conventional methods. With growing corporate interest in the vegetable factory business, Showa Denko said the new technique offers si...

IDEC Corp has utilized blue LED elements and yellow fluorescent materials to develop pseudo white LED modules. Under IDEC’s new method, an LED device can be packaged just by covering it with a gel-like silicon resin sheet containing a fluorescent material and heating it. Compared with a conventional method that packages an LED device by inpouring liquid resin, the new method can reduce the time used for packaging process to 1/9. With the conventional method, a "dam" is formed around an LED device on the substrate to keep the resin. Then, t...

Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) delivers another industry first with a barrier-breaking 276 lumen-per-watt white R&D power LED. This significant milestone exceeds Cree’s previous R&D industry record of 254 lumens per watt and demonstrates Cree’s continued commitment to innovate and accelerate the adoption of LED lighting. Cree’s innovative SC³ Technology™ Platform, available today in Cree XLamp® LEDs, enables this record-breaking R&D result. The SC³ Technology Platform features advancements in LED chip ar...

Back in May 2011 Philips announced that they are investing €40 million in a new OLED lighting production line in Aachen. Philips inaugurated the new line - which has been producing OLEDs since Q3 2012 in fact (but it's only official now). Philips say that this new line is the largest and "most modern" OLED lighting line in the world. The clean-room is approximately 2,000-square meter in size. The new line is adjacent to Philips' pilot line that's been producing OLEDs since 2007. Philips plans to produce all their panels in the old ...

Soraa has developed the next generation of its high external quantum efficiency GaN on GaN LEDs, which outperform the best-documented LED laboratory result by Nichia Chemical Co. at current densities of 100 A/cm2 and beyond as described in the paper, "White light emitting diodes with super-high luminous efficacy," J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 43, 354002). Soraa has published a paper on its ground breaking LEDs, entitled, "Bulk GaN based violet light-emitting diodes with high efficiency at very high current density" in Applied Physics Letters, ...

At the beginning of the new year Tridonic landed a big breakthrough with OLED modules for professional lighting. Available in series, the new lighting module from the OLEDmodule LUREON REP product range for the first time achieves a luminous flux of more than 100 lumens, at dimensions of 99 x 99 mm². In addition, LUREON REP achieves a system efficiency of over 50 lm/W in neutral white, which is much higher than that achieved by comparable products on the market.

Intematix Corporation, an innovator of patented phosphors and phosphor components for high-quality LED lighting, provided an update on its patent infringement litigation in South Korea with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation.

Pluritas, LLC, an intellectual property transaction advisory firm, is conducting the sale of a strategic LED patent portfolio from Illumitex, Inc., an LED innovator and maker of optically advanced lighting products. The Illumitex portfolio includes five patent families and 17 applications, each related to novel approaches for improving LED extraction efficiency and for chip shaping. The IP rights capture years of innovation and R&D relevant to the multi-billion-dollar market for LED chips.

Luxonic Lighting has supplied the complete controls and lighting solution for the Sir Robert Woodard Academy in West Sussex, which is a new architectural landmark in Lancing. The £28 million new build, which replaced the old college, is a state-of-the-art learning facility that has allowed the expansion of the academy from 1,100 to 1,400 students.  Luxonic has supplied products for both the interior and exterior of the buildings, from communal areas to the academy’s specialist performing arts facilities.

Company launches simpler, smaller and less costly IC solution for dimmable LED retrofits. Next week at Strategies in Light, the premier conference and exhibition for solid-state lighting (SSL), emerging fabless company, Ikon Semiconductor, will debut its digital controller Integrated Circuit (IC) technology for the dimmable LED retrofit market. The new technology is designed to meet cost and performance standards for today’s LED lighting products, while also enabling greater design simplicity for bulb manufacturers and OEMs. Central to the IC’s value is an innovative digital architecture that eliminates costly components – a benefit that reduces the form factor and improves reliability.

Eleven leading German OLED companies and research institutions announced the successful completion of the OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) related project; So-Light. This € 14.7 m project was supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) over a three and a half year period and addressed the complete value chain, from primary OLED materials through to OLED-lighting applications. Several of the promising innovations created within the project will now be brought to market by the participants of the So-Light project. The proje...

Scientists from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland (United Kingdom) have begun to develop a new Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) technology that will use special micron-sized LED lights, such as those that could be used as part of home lighting or TV displays, to form part of a sophisticated wireless communications network (much like Wi-Fi is today). The principle, which revolves around manipulating the on/off flicker of LED lights to produce a digital network (a bit like Morse Code from a torch), is not new but most of the other teams are focusing on larger Li-Fi L...

As we know, Google purchased Motorola Mobility and with that purchase came thousands of patents for mobile devices. A document posted online shown that there was one patent missing and Google has just applied for it. That patent was one for a multi-LED flash to be embedded on the back side of a smartphone, or tablet for that matter. The idea behind a multi-LED flash is so that a low light photo situation can have different levels of light and will create a better exposure for the photo. Phones on the market today typically have one LED flash, or maybe a dual-LED flash...

Professor Yue Kuo, from the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University , has fabricated a new type of LED, capable of producing a wide spectrum light while operating for long periods of time at atmospheric conditions. This device is based on a new concept of light emission from an ultra-thin amorphous dielectric layer.     According to an article published in Applied Physics Letters, the light emission mechanism, characteristics of the emission spectrum, fabrication method, and the operation parameter effects on this ty...

British scientists are working on tiny LED lights that could deliver Wi-Fi-like internet communications, while simultaneously displaying information. At the same time, the technology will also provide illumination for homes, offices and a whole host of other locations. Over the next four years, with Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding, a consortium of UK universities led by the University of Strathclyde will be developing this innovative technology to help unleash the full potential of 'Li-Fi'—the transmission of interne...

Recently, at Lighting Japan 2013, Panasonic Idemitsu OLED Lighting (PIOL) Co Ltd exhibited OLED lighting panels developed for residences. The company showed a panel that looks like shoji (paper screen) in a Japanese room, a panel designed for wash stands, etc. It plans to release the panels in the spring of 2013. Meanwhile, it announced its line of products scheduled to be launched by fiscal 2018.   The exhibited OLED panels were the "100 x 100" series, a 10 x 10cm OLED lighting panel that PIOL released in November 2012, and the "...

Japanese companies from Tamura Corp and Koha Co Ltd have created a white LED using gallium oxide (β-type Ga2O3) and exhibited it at Lighting Japan 2013 from Jan 16 to 18, 2013. The LED consists of a blue LED chip made on a β-type Ga2O3 substrate by using GaN-based semiconductor and  a fluorescent material. Compared with a case where a common blue LED chip formed on a sapphire substrate is used, the new LED realizes a higher optical output. At the show, Tamura and Koha showcased two kinds of white LEDs that use 0.3 x 0.3mm and 2 x 2mm...

Researchers from Boston University have invented a unique way of using LED lights to transmit location information to mobile devices within buildings.   Researchers Dan Ryan and Aaron Ganick’s start-up, ByteLight, is based entirely around proprietary software that can accurately map the inside of buildings using only LED lighting to transmit location information. with the trend toward LED lighting replacing fluorescents in many buildings throughout the world, and the continued growth of mobile smart devices, LED lights that broadcast location data can he...

Japanese researchers Akinori Koukitu and Yoshinao Kumagai, who are professor and associate professor, respectively, at the Division of Applied Chemistry, the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), and researchers of Tokuyama Corp. , have made breakthroughs on a deep ultraviolet LED that has the world's highest levels of output characteristics. With a forward current of 150mA, its output and external quantum efficiency are 20mW and 3.0%, respectively. There were two problems in the development of the deep ultraviolet LED: developing a high...

Scientists from University of Georgia have made breakthroughs on creating an LED that emits a warm white light using a single light emitting material, or phosphor, with a single emitting center for illumination. One of the researchers on the project, Zhengwei Pan, an associate professor in the department of physics in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and in the College of Engineering, said in a posting on the UGA website, “Our material achieves a warm color temperature while at the same time giving highly accurate color rendition, which is somethin...

Verbatim will launch a new range of LED products based on Seoul Semiconductor (SSC)’s ”nPola” technology. Since 2010, Verbatim has been introducing a growing portfolio of high performance LED lamps to the lighting market. To address market requirements for LED lamps that more closely approximate the characteristics of halogen lighting, Verbatim will launch a new range of LED products based on Seoul Semiconductor (SSC)’s ”nPola” technology. “nPola” utililizes gallium nitride (GaN) substrates from Verbatim&r...

A Japanese research team has announced on January 10 that it developed a new efficiently deep ultraviolet sterilization LED lamp, featuring small volume, electricity saving, environmentally and long lasting ,compared to traditional low pressure mercury lamp. Currently, low pressure mercury lamps are widely used in medical and food application. Because of the environmental harm caused by mercury, researchers are seeking for substitutes. Deep UV is an ultraviolet ray that has short wavelength with high efficient of killing bacteria. And the substrate crystallization has influ...

At CES 2013, Panasonic has exhibited a 56-inch 4k OLED display. The company applied its own printing process to the display and cooperated with Sony in the development of the display's oxide semiconductor. Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga stressed the large size, vivid color and slimness of the display in a keynote speech, however, the company has not disclosed when to mass-produce the display or its expected price....

Jagged microscopic scales covering the surface of a firefly's light-emitting abdomen make an excellent light-extraction layer for LEDs, as researchers from Belgium, France, and Canada discovered. They then created an LED overlayer that increased light extraction by up to 55%.1, 2 The researchers hail from the University of Namur (Namur, Belgium); European Synchrotron Research Facility (Grenoble, France); Université Catholique de Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium); and Université de Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada). The researchers dete...

PhotonStar LED Group plc, continues to work with CSR plc (CSR) in the development of its Bluetooth Smart home lighting products.   The firms worked closely to create a joint LED lighting demonstration on the CSR booth at CES International 2013 in Las Vegas, showing how Bluetooth low energy wireless technology can enable smartphones, tablets and other connected devices to control systems such as lighting throughout the home. Photonstar’s existing LED lighting system is fully colour tuneable and dimmable, and the addition of CSR’s Bluet...

SemiLEDs proudly announces its power improvements in its EV-LED family allowing single-chip emitters to achieve over 130lm/W. SemiLEDs announced its recent improvements in both epitaxial quality and chip process to its EV- family of LED chips. These improvements allowed a 10% increase in blue chip brightness and 8% decrease in forward voltage (Vf) during mass production, enabling its clients to achieve over 130lm/W with cool white and 110lm/W with warm white. The measurements were taken at 350mA. With Enhanced Vertical (EV) technology, SemiLEDs was abl...

BluGlass has utilized its low temperature RPCVD process to develop p-type GaN, an essential material that make up the top layers of a nitride LED.   Preliminary testing has been carried out on the sample using a 0.5mm diameter size p-type indium contact. The light output was measured with a UV-detector positioned under the wafer calibrated at the wavelength of the light emission. At 20mA and 4.7V, the light output was 270µW (light emission at 458nm with a full width half maximum of 19nm) At 50mA and 5.5V, the light output was 1.23mW (light emission ...

Smart Home Labs has launched the RoboSmart wireless LED lighting system that enables smart lighting control via smartphone, tablet or computer over Bluetooth Smart wireless with customizable apps for both iOS and Android. And the new LED light bulb is available for pre-orders on the world’s largest open-funding platform IndieGoGo. The unique combination of energy efficient LED design and Bluetooth communications allows anyone the freedom to fully customize control of their home lighting, not previously possible with standard LED bulbs. Harnessing the ...

NASA's planning a test to replace fluorescent lighting panels in the ISS with a solid-state LED lighting module which produces blue, white, or reddish light depending on the time. It hopes that this change will serve as a counter-measure to the inevitable disruption of the body's circadian rhythm while in space — this would hopefully reduce insomnia, which can have a host of deleterious effects while in space. Sleep in space has long been a concern for NASA — back in 2001, a study showed that 50 percent of some Space Shuttle crews relied on medicat...

Lately, a US academic has made a breakthrough on a flicker-free, shatterproof, alternative light source for large-scale lighting applications. Dr David Carroll at Wake Forest University has utilized the technology based on Field-Induced Polymer Electroluminescent Technology (FIPEL) and emits a soft white light, to create the light source.       According to Dr Carroll, the light source is made from three layers of moldable, white-emitting polymer blended with nanomaterials that glow when stimulated to create bright, natural “white lig...