SUMMARY
One of the most well-known challenging issues of LEDs in SSL applications is to achieve high light emission efficiency of LED by utilizing low-cost and practical approaches. Another important issue is the controllability of the emission color. Some solutions have been proposed to achieve multiple-spectra and broadband emission in LEDs. However, these approaches show somewhat weakness for SSL applications.
Lehigh University has invented a new approach to significant broaden the spectrum of III-Nitride LEDs that yields warm light by using a novel re-growth method. Study results have shown that the total intensity of spectrum is reduced in half and a continuous control of polarization, showing a promising future for this approach.
Lehigh Tech ID# 112009-03
THE MARKET
The SSL market is predicted to reach $33 billion by 2013, growing annually at over 10%. This market is an umbrella market for LEDs, OLEDs, and PLEDs. LED technologies make up a majority of this market ($5.08 billion), with a growth rate of over 24%. Additionally, 22% of the United States electricity is consumed by lighting, which costs consumers over $50 billion each year. SSL technologies have the potential to reduce this consumption by up to six times less. This potential has led to increased market need, funding resources and science centers dedicated to SSL developments, such as the $46 million Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) for solid-state lighting science funded by the Department of Energy.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Lehigh University is interested in identifying an industry partner to license this technology.