Trends

Trends

Resources | LpR Article | Technologies | Electronics | Drivers | Jul 12, 2017
LED Driver Miniaturization - Opening New Opportunities for Solid State Lighting
LED Driver Miniaturization - Opening New Opportunities for Solid State Lighting While LEDs have significantly improved over the past decade, driver technologies have not kept pace and are, in some respects, the limiting factors for new applications. Size is a particular issue. Dramatically increasing the switching frequency helps to reduce size but often causes other issues or is costly. Mickey Madsen, CEO of Nordic Power Converters, explains how his company has overcome the hurdles and made it feasible by designing very high frequency LED drivers. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | Electronics | Drivers | Jul 12, 2017
LED-Retrofit Based on AlGaN/GaN-on-Si Field- Effect Transistor Drivers
LED-Retrofit Based on AlGaN/GaN-on-Si Field- Effect Transistor Drivers Efficient driver technologies for LED systems are still a relevant topic. Several new approaches are proposed and new technologies are under development. Andreas Zibold, PhD student at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF, and his co-authors, M. Kunzer, R. Reiner, B. Weiß, P. Waltereit, R. Quay, J. Wagner, and O. Ambacher demonstrate the suitability of AlGaN/GaNon- Si field effect transistors (FETs) for their use in LED drivers. The transistors are tested in an isolated buck converter and an efficiency of 86% is measured for the full converter circuit. The driver circuit is combined with an LED module based on a laser-structured Aluminum Nitride (AlN) ceramic board onto which 21 high power white-emitting LED chips are mounted. This combination resulted in an LEDRetrofit lamp with a total light output of 2676 lm at an efficacy level of 119 lm/W. The results compare favorably to state-of-the-art commercial solutions. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research News | CIE | Measurement | Calibration | Jul 12, 2017
CIE Research Strategy on Defining New Calibration Sources and Illuminants
CIE Research Strategy on Defining New Calibration Sources and Illuminants In photometry and radiometry, traceability of measurements requires appropriate calibration sources and transfer detectors. A major challenge is the technological revolution of lighting products towards LED lighting and the ban of incandescent lamps. This raises concern about the availability of incandescent photometric standard lamps in the future while the prices of such standard lamps are already increasing. In addition, calibration conditions should ideally be chosen to be as close as possible to the measurement conditions. Furthermore, the number of LED lighting measurements in laboratories and in the field has significantly increased, while the calibration of photometers is still done using incandescentbased standards. Therefore, it is important to investigate the pros and cons of replacement of conventional standard lamps with new solid-state technology. Peter Blattner and Tony Bergen, Division 2 Director and Secretary respectively, explain how CIE has defined the research topic “New Calibration Sources and Illuminants for Photometry, Colorimetry, and Radiometry” to address these concerns. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Tech-Talks Bregenz | Engineering | Technologies | Simulation Tools | Jul 12, 2017
Tech-Talks BREGENZ - Jamie Singerman, Future Lighting Solutions
Tech-Talks BREGENZ - Jamie Singerman, Future Lighting Solutions We recently sat down with Jamie Singerman, Worldwide Corporate Vice President, and Patrick Durand, Technical Director for Future Lighting Solutions, a leading provider of Solid-State Lighting technologies, engineering expertise and online simulation and design tools, to discuss the company’s differentiators and their views on the ever changing lighting market. Read more »
Technologies | Laser Technology | Jun 30, 2017
World’s Brightest Laser Sparks New Behavior in Light
World’s Brightest Laser Sparks New Behavior in Light Physicists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are seeing an everyday phenomenon in a new light. y focusing laser light to a brightness 1 billion times greater than the surface of the sun — the brightest light ever produced on Earth — the physicists have observed changes in a vision-enabling interaction between light and matter. Read more »
Technologies | Manufacturing | LEDs | Jun 29, 2017
High Conductive Foils Enabling Large Area Lighting
High Conductive Foils Enabling Large Area Lighting Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP as one of the leading partners for research and development for surface technologies and organic electronics and Sefar AG, a leading manufacturer of precision fabrics from monofilaments, developed a roll-to-roll processed large area flexible OLED during a joint project. Read more »
Technologies | Simulation Tools | Jun 21, 2017
Future Lighting Solutions Launches the Usable Light Tool for UV and Horticulture Applications
Future Lighting Solutions Launches the Usable Light Tool for UV and Horticulture Applications Future Lighting Solutions, the world-class leader and innovator in demand creation, marketing and distribution of solid-state lighting technologies, announces the inclusion of non-visible LEDs and horticultural LEDs to its Usable Light Tool (ULT). Available free of charge to engineers worldwide, the ULT enables lighting designers to simulate usable light from LEDs, allowing the user to make critical LED selection decisions. Read more »
Business | Company News | Innovation | May 20, 2017
SORAA Sky Wins Prestigious LIGHTFAIR International Innovation Award
SORAA Sky Wins Prestigious LIGHTFAIR International Innovation Award Soraa, the world leader in GaN on GaN™ LED technology and illuminator of the world’s most renowned historical buildings, museums, hotels, and luxury shops, announced the company’s consumer-focused SORAA Sky bulb has won an LIGHTFAIR International 2017’s Innovation Award. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | LEDs | Manufacturing | Quality | May 16, 2017
Variability in LED Production and the Impact on Performance
Variability in LED Production and the Impact on Performance LEDs are subject to manufacturing deviations, which have an impact on the end product. Benoit Bataillou and T. Merelle, guest authors from Pi Lighting, review the surprisingly large impact on LED performance and light quality. They used traditional as well as modern indicators like CRI and TM-30 as well as the latest circadian indices to measure. The results are explained by spectral modeling and a variability study. They show the large impact on CRI, even with small deviations inside the same bin. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | LEDs | Electronics | Manufacturing | May 16, 2017
Smart LED System in Package through Wafer Level Integration Approach
Smart LED System in Package through Wafer Level Integration Approach It is believed that LEDs will dominate all lighting applications in the near future. Integration and packaging are the two critical issues that, if resolved, will enable efficient and reliable solutions for lighting requirements. Z. Kolahdouz, H. van Zeijl, and G. Q. Zhang from the Institute of Microsystems and Nanoelectronics (DIMES) at the Delft University of Technology, and M. Kolahdouz from the Thin Film Laboratory and Nano-Electronics at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Tehran show that wafer level packaging is a promising method to ensure lower cost, higher scale, and superior yield. A new integration approach of a smart unit of LED lighting is introduced: LED System in Package (SiP). Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | Optics | May 16, 2017
Ultrathin Direct-Lit LED Module with Beam Shaping Thin-Film Optics
Ultrathin Direct-Lit LED Module with Beam Shaping Thin-Film Optics Thin, high quality, LED light panels are still a challenge. LED professional’s scientific partner, CSEM, investigated and developed a new approach with its partners, GAIKER-IK4 and BASF-SE. The authors, Oscar Fernández and Rolando Ferrini, from CSEM, Leire Barruetabeña, from GAIKER-IK4, and Sorin Ivanovici from BASF SE, present a solution that uses low-cost and spectrally poor, ultra-cool white LEDs in conjunction with optical color conversion foils, to transform the output to a high-quality light. They also describe a combination with added lime and red LEDs for a color tunable solution. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | Light Conversion | May 16, 2017
New Glass-Based Phosphors for White Light-Emitting Diodes
New Glass-Based Phosphors for White Light-Emitting Diodes Phosphors were always the key component of high quality white LED light. With the increased effîcacy and the higher power capabilities of blue high power LEDs, the phosphors become even more important for reliability, color consistency and overall light quality. Franziska Steudel, Florian Wagner, A. Charlotte Rimbach, Bernd Ahrens, Peter W. Nolte and Stefan Schweizer, scientists at the Fraunhofer Application Center for Inorganic Phosphors, a Branch Lab of Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS, investigated different glass and ceramics based phosphors for white LEDs. Read more »
Standardization + Regulation | Technology | Apr 29, 2017
LEDOTRON: Digital Dimming Technology for a New World of Lighting Convenience
LEDOTRON: Digital Dimming Technology for a New World of Lighting Convenience LEDOTRON is the name of the new digital standard for dimming systems designed for LED and compact fluorescent retrofit lamps. The innovative digital dimming and regulation technology was developed in collaboration with OSRAM and is to be passed as the IEC 62756-1 standard end of this year.The participants at the LEDOTRON press conference at the BAU trade fair in Munich in January 2013 were presented with the advantages of the LEDOTRON technology. Read more »
Technologies | Displays | Drones | Apr 27, 2017
DOCOMO Develops World's First Spherical Drone Display
DOCOMO Develops World's First Spherical Drone Display NTT DOCOMO, INC., in a continuing quest to create innovative new business, has developed a spherical drone display - an unmanned aerial vehicle that displays LED images on an omnidirectional spherical screen while in flight - which DOCOMO believes to be a world first. Read more »
Technologies | Optics | Waveguides | Apr 18, 2017
Method to Control Light Propagation in Waveguides
Method to Control Light Propagation in Waveguides A team of Columbia Engineering researchers, led by Applied Physics Assistant Professor Nanfang Yu, has invented a method to control light propagating in confined pathways, or waveguides, with high efficiency by using nano-antennas. To demonstrate this technique, they built photonic integrated devices that not only had record-small footprints but were also able to maintain optimal performance over an unprecedented broad wavelength range. Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | Light Generation | Apr 18, 2017
New Cree NX Technology Platform Redefines LED Performance for Next Generation Lighting Systems
New Cree NX Technology Platform Redefines LED Performance for Next Generation Lighting Systems Cree announces a major LED breakthrough with the revolutionary NX technology platform that will power the next generation of Cree’s lighting-class LEDs. The NX technology platform enables the new Extreme Density (XD) LED family that delivers up to four times higher lumen density than Cree’s previous generation of high power LEDs. This new technology platform makes possible innovative new designs, eliminating current constraints for a wide spectrum of lighting applications such as color-mixing, directional lighting and industrial lighting. Read more »
Resources | LpO Article | Event-Reports | Trends | Sustainability | Human Centric Lighting | Apr 03, 2017
First LightingEurope Summit – An Outstanding Figure in the Lighting Branch, Hands Over His Responsibilities
First LightingEurope Summit – An Outstanding Figure in the Lighting Branch, Hands Over His Responsibilities Diederik de Stoppelaar, one of the most influential and esteemed personalities in the lighting branch, has retired and passed over his responsibilities to Ourania Georgoutsakou. One of his last activities was initiating the first LightingEurope Summit, a one-day program, where a number of respected and eloquent lecturers were invited to speak. The venue, The Steigenberg Wiltcher's, in Brussels, was a good choice for this first of its kind event. About 150 lighting specialists, friends, and colleagues of Diederik de Stoppelaar attended the conference and farewell event. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | Optics | Applications | Mar 20, 2017
Roadway Lighting Optics for Environment Adaptive Spatial Light Distribution
Roadway Lighting Optics for Environment Adaptive Spatial Light Distribution Roadway lighting for different environmental conditions is a challenging task. But even more challenging is to find a solution with outstanding task efficiency for both dry and wet tarmac surface conditions. The drawback of these types of solutions is that they are usually made up of two different lighting systems. Since the two systems are not usually used to an equal degree, they age at a different rate. Solving this problem is very complex. Viktor Zsellér, PhD student, and Dr. Krisztián Samu, Senior Lecturer, both from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, propose an optical system that solves this conundrum. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Technologies | Thermal Management | Mar 13, 2017
Looking for the Best Thermal Solution for CSP Module Designs
Looking for the Best Thermal Solution for CSP Module Designs Chip Scale Package (CSP) LED technology is not new but while it has been used for a while in TV backlighting applications, it is relatively new to lighting applications. In many respect CSPs are a new world for lighting module manufacturers as they are smaller, usually don’t have any ESD protection, have different light distribution, and, last but not least, have a smaller heat dissipation area. The latter asks for re-thinking the traditional thermal design for modules. Dr. Giles Humpston, Applications Engineer at Cambridge Nanotherm, explains in detail why CSP LEDs present a significant thermal challenge for module designers and outlines some fundamentals in calculating the thermal flow required to keep CSP LEDs cool. Read more »
Technologies | Resources | Smart Lighting + IoT | Standardization | LpR Article | Mar 13, 2017
A Standardized Open Platform Is Key to the Future of Smart Lighting System Design
A Standardized Open Platform Is Key to the Future of Smart Lighting System Design The LED industry’s pace of evolution is more prevalent now than it has ever been. The shift from traditional standalone LED bulb lighting to fully connected digital LED systems is upon us and is transforming the industry for the better. For years, LED manufacturers have focused on driving cost down rather than focusing on improving quality, but with the advent of connected lighting, smart lighting and human-centric lighting, the focus has shifted back onto quality. Dr. Kyeongik Min, Principal Engineer in the LED business team at Samsung Electronics, explores how the LED industry can accelerate the transition from standalone lighting to fully connected lighting through a deeper understanding of current market trends. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | Light Generation | Light Conversion | Material Science | Mar 13, 2017
Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals - A New Promise for Light Emitting Devices
Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals - A New Promise for Light Emitting Devices Perovskites structured materials have attracted scientific and technological interest in the last four years. Recent studies have shown that these materials could deliver high photoluminescence efficiency at any desired wavelength in the visible spectrum. Mirko Prato and Francesco Di Stasio, Technologist and Marie Curie Fellow of the Institute of Photonic Sciences at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia focus on the application in single color LEDs (red, green and blue) and white emitting color-converting layers. They discuss what limits their application in everyday technology like toxicity and limited functional stability. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Commentary | Business | LEDs | Trends | Mar 13, 2017
From Component to System, Andreas Weisl, CEO at Seoul Semiconductor Europe GmbH
From Component to System, Andreas Weisl, CEO at Seoul Semiconductor Europe GmbH The history of Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) is quite short compared with some other electronic device industries. However, it has changed and revolutionized the entire world of light within a very short period of time. The history of Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) is quite short compared with some other electronic device industries. However, it has changed and revolutionized the entire world of light within a very short period of time. Read more »
Nanowire | Technologies | LEDs | Light Generation | Feb 14, 2017
Nanorod LEDs with Two Functions Could Make Multifunctional Displays
Nanorod LEDs with Two Functions Could Make Multifunctional Displays Cellphones and other devices could soon be controlled with touchless gestures and charge themselves using ambient light, thanks to new LED arrays that can both emit and detect light. Made of tiny nanorods arrayed in a thin film, the LEDs could enable new interactive functions and multitasking devices. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Dow Electronic Materials in Marlborough, Massachusetts, report the advance in the Feb. 10 issue of the journal Science. Read more »
Resources | Technologies | Light Generation | Thermal Management | Medical | Jan 26, 2017
Thermal Management of an LED Light Source for Microscopes
Thermal Management of an LED Light Source for Microscopes Thermal management is a challenge for every LED and LASER solution. Microscope lighting solutions have some very critical requirements, especially if they concern medical applications. ESCATEC in Heerbrugg, Switzerland has a lot of experience in that field and covers all relevant technical disciplines. Wolfgang Plank, head of the MOEMS Future Laboratory and cleanroom, and Gerd Harder, Key Account Manager, give insights on the design process, thermal simulation and production of an LED light source for Leica Microsystems’ Ophthalmic Microscope Proveo 8. Read more »
LpR Article | Research | Jan 26, 2017
Lifetime Calculation of White HP-LEDs from 16,000 Hours Aging Data
Lifetime Calculation of White HP-LEDs from 16,000 Hours Aging Data Accurate models are a relevant tool for correctly calculating the so-called useful lifetime predictions of LED lighting products. Until recently, only the efficiency decay and related reduced lumen output was taken into account. Max Wagner, Research Assistant, TU Darmstadt, and his co-authors, Alexander Herzog, Hristo Ganev, and Prof. Tran Quoc Khanh asked themselves if there are other lifetime limiting factors that can be modelled and predicted. Their findings showed that color shift might be more critical and in the following, propose a method to simulate and predict this behavior. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Event-Reports | Business | Technologies | Applications | Jan 26, 2017
LuxLive and SILE Sharpen Focus on End-Users
LuxLive and SILE Sharpen Focus on End-Users On November 23rd and 24th, as in previous years, LuxLive was held in the Excel Center close to London’s City Airport. This year, for the second time since the merger of Revo Media and Pennwell, LuxLive and Strategies in Light Europe were co-located. Arno Grabher-Meyer, Editor-in-Chief at LED professional, summarizes his impressions of the event, picking out the more technical oriented lectures held in the different "arenas". Read more »
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