Better Lights

August 31, 2011

University of Florida researchers are flipping the switch on a bright idea that might outshine both incandescent bulbs and fluorescent light bulbs. A team of engineers is developing a new type of light from light-emitting-diode or LED technology. This high-performance, hybrid LED utilizes quantum dots, tiny nano-sized crystals that emit an array of colored lights when excited by electricity.

Jiangeng Xue/UF material science researcher: “The specific LED devices we have been making, the maximum brightness can be about 70,000. So at least one other magnitude brighter than the fluorescent light lamps we are using.”

Since these LED devices can achieve at least ten times more light emission compared to a fluorescent fixture, less space is needed to emit the same amount of light on one given spot. Researchers say their work could pave the way for the manufacture of efficient and stable quantum dot-based LEDs at a low cost.

Jiangeng Xue/UF material science researcher: “So, I imagine that in the future the cost for these nanoparticle synthesis will be coming down dramatically and that’ll get to the level that we can actually use large quantity to do mass production.“

Researchers say these new devices will be efficient, inexpensive and have a lifetime of about 50,000 hours.