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Light Emitting Diode- theoretical approach

Research · December 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1502.4726

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Table of content
1 Abstract ................................................................................................................3

Chapter 1 Introduction..............................................................................................4
1.1Background and motivation.................................................................................4
1.2 Organization of the Dissertation...........................................................5

CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................6

2.1 History and Invention of LED............................................................................6

2.2 Function of LED..................................................................................................7

2.3 DIRECT AND INDIRECT BANDGAP IN SEMICONDUCTOR……………………..8

2.4 Heterojunction and Homojunction....................................................................10

2.5 Energy Gaps in LEDs........................................................................................11

2.6 Efficiency and wavelengths .........................................................................13
2 .7 “3 M”light in g ...................................................................................................15
CHAPTER 3……………………………………………………………...........................16

3.1 Advantages.........................................................................................................16

3.2 Disadvantages...................................................................................................17
3.3 DRAWBACK of LEDs................................................................................18

3.3.1 Absorption loss............................................................................................18

3.3.2 Fresnel loss................................................................................................19

3.3.3 Critical angle loss.......................................................................................20

3.4 APPLICATIONS of LED………………………...............................................21

3.5 BLUE LED AND NOBEL PRIZE…………………………………………..…23

CHAPTER 4....................................................................................................26

1
4.1 LED IN OPTICAL FIBER SYSTEM…………………………………………..26
4.1.1COUPLING................................................................................................................26

4.1.2 Surface-emitting LEDs………………………………………………………26

4.1.3Edge-emitting LEDs…………….……………………………………………26

CHAPTER 5………………………………………………………………………...28
5.1 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...28
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………..28

2
ABSTRACT
Our group work on LED includes objective oriented description of the structure, function
and working principle of LED along with historical overview and application. Application
mainly includes in the optical fiber system and in modern age. It also includes a brief
description of semiconductor devices junctions. Our main approach is to make a journey
from the historical background of LED to the most advanced application like the LED light
developed by 3M lighting and usage of LED in the field of optical fiber system.

3
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION
Light is the source of each and every form of life. Beginning from the history of human
raise it was the most important phenomena of all is to make light more efficient and user
friendly sources. But now necessity has increased and scientists and engineers had been
working together to make the light sources more efficient. To maintain this journey LEDs
are introduced in the early 1950’s. In the 1990 the BLUE LED has been invented with a
new era. And LEDs became more popular in the fields of medical science, engineering
and so on.

Early LEDs were often used as indicator lamps for electronic devices, replacing small
incandescent bulbs. They were soon packaged into numeric readouts in the form of
seven-segment displays, and were commonly seen in digital clocks.

Recent developments in LEDs permit them to be used in environmental and task lighting.
LEDs have many advantages over incandescent light sources including lower energy
consumption, longer lifetime, improved physical robustness, smaller size, and faster
switching. Light-emitting diodes are now used in applications as diverse as aviation
lighting, automotive headlamps, advertising, general lighting, traffic signals, camera
flashes and even LED wallpaper. A London based company, invented LED incorporated
wallpaper, which gives a warm ambience light. However, LEDs powerful enough for room
lighting are still relatively expensive, and require more precise current and heat
management than compact fluorescent lamp sources of comparable output.

4
1.2 Organization of the Dissertation
Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter. It contains the background and motivation of
analysis of LED and organization of the paper.
Chapter 2 includes historical overview of LED invention, functions of LED and theoretical
overview of the study.
Chapter 3 includes advantages, disadvantages and drawbacks of LED in optical fiber
system along with the application of LED in everyday life and in optical fiber system.
Chapter 5 includes coupling techniques of LED in fiber optic cable.
Chapter 6 concludes the paper.

5
 CHAPTER 2

2.1 History and Invention of LED

Electroluminescence as a phenomenon was discovered in 1907 by the British
experimenter H. J. Round of Marconi Labs, using a crystal of silicon carbide and a cat's-
whisker detector. Soviet inventor Oleg Losev reported creation of the first LED in 1927.
His research was distributed in Soviet, German and British scientific journals, but no
practical use was made of the discovery for several decades. Kurt Lehovec, Carl Accardo
and Edward Jamgochian, explained these first light-emitting diodes in 1951 using an
apparatus employing SiC crystals with a current source of battery or pulse generator and
with a comparison to a variant, pure, crystal in 1953.

Rubin Braunstein of the Radio Corporation of America reported on infrared emission from
gallium arsenide (GaAs) and other semiconductor alloys in 1955.Braunstein observed
infrared emission generated by simple diode structures using gallium antimonide (GaSb),
GaAs, indium phosphide (InP), and silicon-germanium (SiGe) alloys at room temperature
and at 77 kelvins.

In 1957, Braunstein further demonstrated that the rudimentary devices could be used for
non-radio communication across a short distance. As noted by Kroemer Braunstein" had
set up a simple optical communications link: Music emerging from a record player was
used via suitable electronics to modulate the forward current of a GaAs diode. The emitted
light was detected by a PbS diode some distance away. This signal was fed into an audio
amplifier, and played back by a loudspeaker. Intercepting the beam stopped the music.
We had a great deal of fun playing with this setup." This setup presaged the use of LEDs
for optical communication applications.

In the fall of 1965, while working at Texas Instruments Inc. in Dallas, TX, James R. Biard
and Gary Pittman found that gallium arsenide (GaAs) emitted infrared light when electric
current was applied. On August 8, 1962, Biard and Pittman filed a patent titled
"Semiconductor Radiant Diode" based on their findings, which described a zinc diffused
p–n junction LED with a spaced cathode contact to allow for efficient emission of infrared
light under forward bias.

After establishing the priority of their work based on engineering notebooks predating
submissions from G.E. Labs, RCA Research Labs, IBM Research Labs, Bell Labs, and
Lincoln Lab at MIT, the U.S. patent office issued the two inventors the patent for the GaAs
infrared (IR) light-emitting diode the first practical LED.Immediately after filing the patent,
Texas Instruments began a project to manufacture infrared diodes. In October 1962, they

6
announced the first LED commercial product (the SNX-100), which employed a pure
GaAs crystal to emit a 900 nm light output.

The first visible-spectrum (red) LED was developed in 1962 by Nick Holonyak, Jr., while
working at General Electric Company.

2.2 Function of LED

LEDs are semiconductor diodes, electronic devices that permit current to flow in only one
direction. The diode is formed by bringing two slightly different materials together to form
a PN junction. In a PN junction, the P side contains excess positive charge ("holes,"
indicating the absence of electrons) while the N side contains excess negative charge
(electrons).

When a forward voltage is applied to the semiconducting element forming the PN junction
(heretofore referred to as the junction), electrons move from the N area toward the P area
and holes move toward the N area. Near the junction, the electrons and holes combine.
As this occurs, energy is released in the form of light that is emitted by the LED.

7
2.3 DIRECT AND INDIRECT BANDGAP IN SEMICONDUCTOR
In semiconductor physics, the band gap of a semiconductor is always one of two types,
a direct band gap or an indirect band gap. The minimal-energy state in the conduction
band and the maximal-energy state in the valence band are each characterized by a
certain crystal momentum (k-vector) in the Brillouin zone. If the k-vectors are the same, it
is called a "direct gap". If they are different, it is called an "indirect gap". The band gap is
called "direct" if the momentum of electrons and holes is the same in both the conduction
band and the valence band; an electron can directly emit a photon. In an "indirect" gap,
a photon cannot be emitted because the electron must pass through an intermediate state
and transfer momentum to the crystal lattice.

The band gap represents the minimum energy difference between the top of the valence
band and the bottom of the conduction band, however, the top of the valence band and
the bottom of the conduction band are not generally at the same value of the electron
momentum. In a direct band gap semiconductor, the top of the valence band and the
bottom of the conduction band occur at the same value of momentum, as in the schematic
below.
In an indirect band gap semiconductor, the maximum energy of the valence band occurs
at a different value of momentum to the minimum in the conduction band energy

8
FIG: DIRECT AND INDIRECT BANDGAP

9
2.4 Heterojunction and Homojunction
A heterojunction is the interface that occurs between two layers or regions of
dissimilar crystalline semiconductors. These semiconducting materials have unequal
band gaps as opposed to a homojunction. It is often advantageous to engineer the
electronic energy bands in many solid state device applications including semiconductor
lasers, solar cells and transistors to name a few. The combination of multiple
heterojunctions together in a device is called a heterostructure although the two terms
are commonly used interchangeably. The requirement that each material be a
semiconductor with unequal band gaps is somewhat loose especially on small length
scales where electronic properties depend on spatial properties. A more modern definition
of heterojunction is the interface between any two solid-state materials, including
crystalline and amorphous structures of metallic, insulating, fast ion

Fig: heterojunction

A homojunction is a semiconductor interface that occurs between layers of similar

semiconductor material, these materials have equal band gaps but typically have different
doping. In most practical cases a homojunction occurs at the interface between an n-type
(donor doped) and p-type (acceptor doped) semiconductor such as silicon, this is called
a p-n junction. This is not a necessary condition as the only requirement is that the same
semiconductor (same band gap) is found on both sides of the junction, in contrast to a
heterojunction. An n-type to n-type junction, for example, would be considered a
homojunction if the doping levels are different. Conductor and semiconducting materials.

10
 Fig: Homojunction
2.5 Energy Gaps in LEDs
When turned on, the LED will have a forward voltage drop of about 1.1 to 1.5 Volts.
Shorter wavelength diodes (e.g. 850 nm) have the largest voltage drops. As the
wavelength increases, the voltage drop decreases. This phenomenon can be related to
the bandgap energy Eg of the LED. Equation 1 defines the bandgap energy E g:

Where:
h = Plank's Constant = 4.13 x 10-15 eV•s
Eg=hc/l = 1240eV-nm/l
c = speed of light = 2.998 x 108 m/s
l = wavelength in nm

Using equation 1, we can predict the energy gap of an LED based on its emission
wavelength. Table 2 - Common Light Emitter Materials & Characteristics

Material Formula Energy Gap Wavelength

11
 Gallium
GaP 2.24 eV 550 nm
Phosphide

Aluminum
AIAs 2.09 eV 590 nm
Arsenide

Gallium Arsenide GaAs 1.42 eV 870 nm

Indium Phosphide InP 1.33 eV 930 nm

Aluminum-Gallium
AIGaAs 1.42-1.61 eV 770-870 nm
Arsenide

Indium-Gallium-
Arsenide- InGaAsP 0.74-1.13 eV 1100-1670 nm
Phosphide

Table 2 lists some common light emitter materials, the emission wavelength and
corresponding energy gap. The first materials, GaP and AlAs, are used to make emitters
in the visible portions of the spectrum. The next three materials, GaAs, InP, and AlGaAs,
are used to make emitters in the near infrared portion spectrum generally referred to as
the "first window" in optical fiber. The last material, InGaAsP is used to make emitters in
the infrared portion spectrum referred to as the "second and third windows" in optical
fibers. The energy gap corresponds to the energy of the emitted photons and also is
indicative of the voltage drop associated with a forward biased LED. Knowing the voltage
drop of the LED and the saturation voltage of the transistor we can compute the LED
current. Equation 2 below shows the general form of the calculation.

Where:
VPOWER = DC power supply
voltage.
VLED = forward voltage drop of the
LED.
ILED= VPower-VLED-VSAT/R3
VSAT = drive transistor saturation
voltage
R3 = series LED current limiting
resistor
ILED = peak LED current

12
Another common use of LEDs is to simply use their large forward voltage drop in some
part of a circuit. In this case, the fact that the LED emits light is incidental. For instance, if
one needed a 2.3 Volt drop in a circuit, then one could use three 1N4148 diodes in series
or a single green LED. Obviously, only inexpensive indicator LEDs are candidates for this
application. One important consideration for this usage is that all light emitters will also
function as detectors. If the LED is in a sensitive portion of the circuit, then the circuit may
become sensitive to ambient light conditions. It may be necessary to shield the LED or
coat it with an opaque paint. It is also useful to note that many ordinary glass diodes, such
as the 1N4148, also function as light detectors. Keep this in mind when using diodes in
circuits that have high gains. One possibility pursued in the past was using ultra-low cost
germanium diodes as long wavelength detectors. They in fact work very well, but are
somewhat inconsistent from part to part.

2.6 Efficiency and wavelengths

Typical indicator LEDs are designed to operate with no more than 30–60 mill watts (mW)
of electrical power. Around 1999, Philips Lumileds introduced power LEDs capable of
continuous use at one watt. These LEDs used much larger semiconductor die sizes to
handle the large power inputs. Also, the semiconductor dies were mounted onto metal
slugs to allow for heat removal from the LED die.
One of the key advantages of LED-based lighting sources is high luminous efficacy. White
LEDs quickly matched and overtook the efficacy of standard incandescent lighting
systems. In 2002, Lumileds made five-watt LEDs available with a luminous efficacy of
18–22 lumens per watt (lm/W). For comparison, a conventional incandescent light bulb of
60–100 watts emits around 15 lm/W, and standard fluorescent lights emit up to 100 lm/W.
As of 2012, the Lumiled catalog gives the following as the best efficacy for each color.
The watt-per-watt value is derived using the luminosity function.

Color Wavelength range (nm) Typical efficacy (lm/W) Typical efficiency (W/W)

13
 Red 620 < λ < 645 72 0.39

Red-orange 610 < λ < 620 98 0.29

Green 520 < λ < 550 93 0.15

Cyan 490 < λ < 520 75 0.26

Blue 460 < λ < 490 37 0.35

In September 2003, a new type of blue LED was demonstrated by the company Cree
Inc. to provide 24 mW at 20 milliamperes (mA). This produced a commercially packaged
white light giving 65 lm/W at 20 mA, becoming the brightest white LED commercially
available at the time, and more than four times as efficient as standard incandescent.

2.7 “3M” announces novel approach to an LED

retrofit lamp:
A light guide provides omnidirectional light distribution in 3M's new LED-based lamp that
is decidedly different from the typical SSL approach to the retrofit application.

This Fall, materials specialist 3M will ship an LED-retrofit lamp that again proves that
there is no limit to the number of different ways to apply solid-state lighting (SSL)
technology to the problem of designing an omnidirectional bulb. The 60W-equivalent 3M
LED Advanced Light uses a light guide that carries and distributes the beam uniformly
with the LEDs mounted just above the Edison socket base.

The new lamps produce 800 lm and will be sold in a 3000K CCT version that the company
calls soft-white light and a 5000K cool-white version. 3M says that the lamps will last 25
years based on a three-hour usage day and cost $1.63 per year to operate. Retailer
Walmart will be the initial source for the $25 lamp with availability expected in September.

14
Fig: 3M LED bulb

15
 CHAPTER 3
3.1 Advantages:
 Efficiency: LEDs emit more lumens per watt than incandescent light bulbs. The
efficiency of LED lighting fixtures is not affected by shape and size, unlike fluorescent
light bulbs or tubes.
 Color: LEDs can emit light of an intended color without using any color filters as
traditional lighting methods need. This is more efficient and can lower initial costs.
 Size: LEDs can be very small and are easily attached to printed circuit boards.
 On/Off time: LEDs light up very quickly. A typical red indicator LED will achieve full
brightness in under a microsecond .LEDs used in communications devices can have
even faster response times.
 Cycling: LEDs are ideal for uses subject to frequent on-off cycling, unlike
incandescent and fluorescent lamps that fail faster when cycled often, or High-
intensity discharge lamps (HID lamps) that require a long time before restarting.
 Dimming: LEDs can very easily be dimmed either by pulse-width modulation or
lowering the forward current. This pulse-width modulation is why LED lights,
particularly headlights on cars, when viewed on camera or by some people, appear
to be flashing or flickering. This is a type of stroboscopic effect.
 Cool light: In contrast to most light sources, LEDs radiate very little heat in the form
of IR that can cause damage to sensitive objects or fabrics. Wasted energy is
dispersed as heat through the base of the LED.
 Slow failure: LEDs mostly fail by dimming over time, rather than the abrupt failure of
incandescent bulbs.
 Lifetime: LEDs can have a relatively long useful life. One report estimates 35,000 to
50,000 hours of useful life, though time to complete failure may be longer. Fluorescent
tubes typically are rated at about 10,000 to 15,000 hours, depending partly on the
conditions of use, and incandescent light bulbs at 1,000 to 2,000 hours.
Several DOE demonstrations have shown that reduced maintenance costs from this
extended lifetime, rather than energy savings, is the primary factor in determining the
payback period for an LED product.
 Shock resistance: LEDs, being solid-state components, are difficult to damage with
external shock, unlike fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, which are fragile.
 Focus: The solid package of the LED can be designed to focus its light. Incandescent
and fluorescent sources often require an external reflector to collect light and direct it
in a usable manner. For larger LED packages total internal reflection (TIR) lenses are
often used to the same effect. However, when large quantities of light are needed
many light sources are usually deployed, which are difficult to focus
or collimate towards the same target.
16
3.2 Disadvantages:

 High initial price: LEDs are currently more expensive, price per lumen, on an initial
capital cost basis, than most conventional lighting technologies. As of 2012, the cost
per thousand lumens (kilolumen) was about $6. The price was expected to reach
$2/kilo lumen by 2013. At least one manufacturer claims to have reached $1 per
kilolumen as of March 2014. The additional expense partially stems from the relatively
low lumen output and the drive circuitry and power supplies needed.
 Temperature dependence: LED performance largely depends on the ambient
temperature of the operating environment – or "thermal management" properties.
Over-driving an LED in high ambient temperatures may result in overheating the LED
package, eventually leading to device failure. An adequate heat sink is needed to
maintain long life. This is especially important in automotive, medical, and military
uses where devices must operate over a wide range of temperatures, which require
low failure rates. Toshiba has produced LEDs with an operating temperature range of
-40 to 100 °C, which suits the LEDs for both indoor and outdoor use in applications
such as lamps, ceiling lighting, street lights, and floodlights.
 Voltage sensitivity: LEDs must be supplied with the voltage above the threshold and
a current below the rating. Current and lifetime change greatly with small change in
applied voltage. They thus require a current-regulated supply.
 Light quality: Most cool-white LEDs have spectra that differ significantly from a black
body radiator like the sun or an incandescent light. The spike at 460 nm and dip at
500 nm can cause the color of objects to be perceived differently under cool-white
LED illumination than sunlight or incandescent sources, due tometamerism, red
surfaces being rendered particularly badly by typical phosphor-based cool-white
LEDs. However, the color-rendering properties of common fluorescent lamps are
often inferior to what is now available in state-of-art white LEDs.
 Area light source: Single LEDs do not approximate a point source of light giving a
spherical light distribution, but rather a lamebrain distribution. So LEDs are difficult to
apply to uses needing a spherical light field; however, different fields of light can be
manipulated by the application of different optics or "lenses". LEDs cannot provide
divergence below a few degrees. In contrast, lasers can emit beams with divergences
of 0.2 degrees or less.
 Electrical polarity: Unlike incandescent light bulbs, which illuminate regardless of
the electrical polarity, LEDs will only light with correct electrical polarity. To
automatically match source polarity to LED devices, rectifiers can be used.
 Blue hazard: There is a concern that blue LEDs and cool-white LEDs are now
capable of exceeding safe limits of the so-called blue-light hazard as defined in eye
safety specifications

17
 Efficiency droop: The luminous efficacy of LEDs decreases as the electric
current increases. Heating also increases with higher currents which compromises
the lifetime of the LED. These effects put practical limits on the current through an
LED in high power applications.

3.3 DRAWBACK of LEDs in optical fiber system and their

solutions:

3.3.1 Absorption loss

Problem: Absorbed by nearest junction, Reduce Photon energy

Solution: Hetero-junction (Direct Band gap)

Fig: absorption loss in led

18
3.3.2 Fresnel loss:

When optical fibers are connected, optical power may be reflected back into the source
fiber. Light that is reflected back into the source fiber is lost. This reflection loss, called
Fresnel reflection, occurs at every fiber interface. Fresnel reflection is caused by a step
change in the refractive index that occurs at the fiber joint. In most cases, the step change
in refractive index is caused by the ends of each fiber being separated by a small gap.
This small gap is usually an air gap. In Fresnel reflection, a small portion of the incident
light is reflected back into the source fiber at the fiber interface. The ratio (R), shown
below, approximates the portion of incident light (light of normal incidence) that is
reflected back into the source fiber.

R is the fraction of the incident light reflected at the fiber n 1 is the refractive index of the
fiber core. n0 is the refractive index of the medium between the two fibers.

Fresnel refraction occurs twice in a fiber-to-fiber connection.

A portion of the optical power is reflected when the light first exits the source fiber. Light
is then reflected as the optical signal enters the receiving fiber. Fresnel reflection at each
interface must be taken into account when calculating the total fiber-to-fiber coupling loss.
Loss from Fresnel reflection may be significant. To reduce the amount of loss from
Fresnel reflection, the air gap can be filled with an index matching gel. The refractive
index of the index matching gel should match the refractive index of the fiber core. Index
matching gel reduces the step change in the refractive index at the fiber interface,
reducing Fresnel reflection.

In any system, index matching gels can be used to eliminate or reduce Fresnel reflection.
The choice of index matching gels is important. Fiber-to-fiber connections are designed
to be permanent and require no maintenance. Over the lifetime of the fiber connection,
the index matching material must meet specific optical and mechanical requirements.
Index matching gels should remain transparent. They should also resist flowing or
dripping by remaining viscous. Some index matching gels darken over time while others
settle or leak out of fiber connections. If these requirements are not met, then the fiber-
to-fiber connection loss will increase over time. In Navy applications, this variation in
connection loss over time is unacceptable. In Navy systems, index matching gels are only
used in fiber optic splice interfaces.

19
Problem: Due to Refractive index

Solution: Plastic

Fig: Fresnel loss

3.3.3 Critical angle loss:

An optical wave guide is a structure that "guides" a light wave by constraining it to travel
along a certain desired path. If the transverse dimensions of the guide are much larger
than the wavelength of the guided light, then we can explain how the optical waveguide
works using geometrical optics and total internal reflection (TIR). TIR occurs when light
is incident on a dielectric interface at an angle greater than the critical angle θc.

A wave guide traps light by surrounding a guiding region, called the core, made from a
material with index of refraction ncore, with a material called the cladding, made from a
material with index of refraction ncladding < ncore. Light entering is trapped as long as
sinθ > ncladding/nncore.

Light can be guided by planar or rectangular wave guides, or by optical fibers.

An optical fiber consists of three concentric elements, the core, the cladding and the outer
coating, often called the buffer. The core is usually made of glass or plastic. The core is
the light-carrying portion of the fiber. The cladding surrounds the core. The cladding is
made of a material with a slightly lower index of refraction than the core. This difference
in the indices causes total internal reflection to occur at the core-cladding boundary along
the length of the fiber. Light is transmitted down the fiber and does not escape through
the sides of the fiber.

20
An optical fiber consists of three concentric elements, the core, the cladding and the outer
coating, often called the buffer. The core is usually made of glass or plastic. The core is
the light-carrying portion of the fiber. The cladding surrounds the core. The cladding is
made of a material with a slightly lower index of refraction than the core. This difference
in the indices causes total internal reflection to occur at the core-cladding boundary along
the length of the fiber. Light is transmitted down the fiber and does not escape through
the sides of the fiber.

3.4 APPLICATIONS of LED

The light from LEDs can be modulated very quickly so they are used extensively in optical
fiber and free space optics communications. This includes remote controls, such as for
TVs, VCRs, and LED Computers, where infrared LEDs are often used. Opto-isolators
use an LED combined with a photodiode or phototransistor to provide a signal path with
electrical isolation between two circuits. This is especially useful in medical equipment
where the signals from a low-voltage sensor circuit (usually battery-powered) in contact
with a living organism must be electrically isolated from any possible electrical failure in
a recording or monitoring device operating at potentially dangerous voltages. An
optoisolator also allows information to be transferred between circuits not sharing a
common ground potential.

Many sensor systems rely on light as the signal source. LEDs are often ideal as a light
source due to the requirements of the sensors. LEDs are used as motion sensors, for
example in optical computer mice. The Nintendo Wii's sensor bar uses infrared LEDs.
Pulse oximeters use them for measuring oxygen saturation. Some flatbed scanners use
arrays of RGB LEDs rather than the typical cold-cathode fluorescent lamp as the light
source. Having independent control of three illuminated colors allows the scanner to
calibrate itself for more accurate color balance, and there is no need for warm-up. Further,
its sensors only need be monochromatic, since at any one time the page being scanned
21
is only lit by one color of light. Touch sensing: Since LEDs can also be used as
photodiodes, they can be used for both photo emission and detection. This could be used,
for example,

in a touch-sensing screen that registers reflected light from a finger or stylus. Many
materials and biological systems are sensitive to or dependent on light. Grow lights use
LEDs to increase photosynthesis in plants and bacteria and viruses can be removed from
water and other substances using UV LEDs for sterilization. Plant growers are interested
in LEDs because they are more energy-efficient, emit less heat (can damage plants close
to hot lamps), and can provide the optimum light frequency for plant growth and bloom
periods compared to currently used grow lights: HPS (high-pressure sodium), metal-
halide (MH) or CFL/low-energy. However, LEDs have not replaced these grow lights due
to higher price. As mass production and LED kits develop, the LED products will become
cheaper.

LEDs have also been used as a medium-quality voltage reference in electronic circuits.
The forward voltage drop (e.g., about 1.7 V for a normal red LED) can be used instead of
a Zener diode in low-voltage regulators. Red LEDs have the flattest I/V curve above the
knee. Nitride-based LEDs have a fairly steep I/V curve and are useless for this purpose.
Although LED forward voltage is far more current-dependent than a good Zener, Zener
diodes are not widely available below voltages of about 3 V.

22
 FIG: LED APPLICATION in lighting

3.5 BLUE LED AND NOBEL PRIZE:

Three scientists have jointly earned the Nobel Prize in physics for their work on blue
LEDs, or light-emitting diodes. Why blue in particular? Well, blue was the last -- and most
difficult -- advance required to create white LED light. And with white LED light, companies

23
are able to create smartphone and computer screens, as well as light bulbs that last
longer and use less electricity than any bulb invented before.
LEDs are basically semiconductors that have been built so they emit light when they're
activated. Different chemicals give different LEDs their colors. Engineers made the first
LEDs in the 1950s and 60s. Early iterations included laser-emitting devices that worked
only when bathed in liquid nitrogen. At the time, scientists developed LEDs that emitted
everything from infrared light to green light… but they couldn't quite get to blue. That
required chemicals, including carefully-created crystals, that they weren't yet able to make
in the lab.
Once they did figure it out, however, the results were remarkable. A modern white LED
lightbulb converts more than 50 percent of the electricity it uses into light. Compare that
to the 4 percent conversion rate for incandescent bulbs, and you have one efficient bulb.
Besides saving money and electricity for all users, white LEDs' efficiency makes them
appealing for getting lighting to folks living in regions without electricity supply. A solar
installation can charge an LED lamp to last a long time, allowing kids to do homework at
night and small businesses to continue working after dark.
A modern white LED light bulb converts more than 50 percent of the electricity it uses
into light.
Compare that to the 4 percent conversion rate for incandescent bulbs.
LEDs also last up to 100,000 hours, compared to 10,000 hours for fluorescent lights and
1,000 hours for incandescent bulbs. Switching more houses and buildings over to LEDs
could significantly reduce the world's electricity and materials consumption for lighting.
A white LED light is easy to make from a blue one. Engineers use a blue LED to excite
some kind of fluorescent chemical in the bulb. That converts the blue light to white light.
Two of this year's prize winners, Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, worked together on
producing high-quality gallium nitride, a chemical that appears in many of the layers in a
blue LED. The previous red and green LEDs used gallium phosphide, which was easier
to produce. Akasaki and Amano discovered how to add chemicals to gallium nitride
semiconductors in such a way that they would emit light efficiently. The pair built
structures with layers of gallium nitride alloys.

24
The third prize-winner, Shuji Nakamura, also worked on making high-quality gallium
nitride. He figured out why gallium nitride semiconductors treated with certain chemicals
glow. He built his own gallium nitride alloy-based structures.
Both Nakamura's and Akasaki's groups will continue to work on making even more
efficient blue LEDs, the committee for the Nobel Prize in physics said in a statement.
Nakamura is now a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, although he
began his LED research at a small Japanese chemical company called Nichia Chemical
Corporation. Akasaki and Amano are professors at Nagoya University in Japan.

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 CHAPTER 4
4.1 LED IN OPTICAL FIBER SYSTEM:
4.1.1COUPLING:
Fibe r -co up lin g of LE Ds d epend s on em itt e r t ype . Approaches differ for coupling
edge- and surface-emitting LEDs into optical fiber, and the Lagrange invariant plays an
important role in designing fiber-coupling optics.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) typically have either an edge-emitting or surface-emitting
structure, each requiring different techniques for coupling into optical fibers. This division
is most evident in the context of fiber optic communication systems, which use particular
types of surface-emitting LEDs (termed SLEDs in the telecom world) and edge-emitting
LEDs (termed ELEDs). Surface- and edge-emitting LEDs are not exclusive to fiber optic
communications, however, and the same division holds for most other LEDs.
4.1.2 Surface-emitting LEDs
The study of surface-emitters is relatively straightforward and requires only relatively
simple optical-design concepts.
In the first case, LIF is greater than or equal to LIS. If the source size equals the fiber size,
butt-coupling is the simplest solution. If the ability to disconnect or separate the source
from the fiber is required, or if butt-coupling is not acceptable for whatever reason, a
rotationally symmetric lens system with a 1:1 conjugate ratio can be used. If the source
size is different from the fiber size, a rotationally symmetric lens system designed with the
appropriate magnification can change the image of the source so that its size matches
the size of the fiber. To obtain a small package (often preferable and sometimes
mandatory), it is necessary to use micro-optics. The highest coupling efficiency often calls
for the use of aspheric lenses, while reasonable efficiencies can be obtained with
conventional optics. Maximum theoretical coupling is possible for matched and
unmatched source/fiber sizes.

4.1.3Edge-emitting LEDs
Edge-emitting diodes have slit-like elongated sources whose emission pattern tends to
be more divergent in the direction perpendicular to the slit. The product of the width of the
emitter, fast-axis beam divergence, and refractive index of the outside media becomes
the fast-axis Lagrange invariant of the source. Similarly, the product of the length of the
emitter, slow-axis beam divergence, and refractive index of the outside media becomes
the slow-axis Lagrange invariant.
To obtain efficient coupling of an elongated source to an optical fiber, butt-coupling is no
longer an option. Instead, a lens system is used with a fast-axis magnification that
increases the object size and reduces the converging beam divergence, and a slow-axis
magnification that reduces the image size of the source. A pair of cylindrical lenses and

26
a rotationally symmetric lens is sufficient to produce this effect; the first cylindrical lens
(for fast-axis collimation) should have a high NA.
The telecom-specific ELEDs are designed for easy coupling with optical fibers (see Fig.
3). But, unlike ELEDs, which have an edge-emitter on one side only, ordinary edge-
emitting LEDs have an edge-emitter on each side of a square die.

FIG: EDGE EMITTING LED

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 CHAPTER 5
5.1 Conclusion
1. A Great Invention.
2. LED’s are used in various Engineering Fields.
3. Becoming popular due to less power consumption
4. Important & economical element in Optical fiber.
5. Scientists & engineers are working to develop LED.
6. Finally it is hoped that in future LED will be used in every engineering sectors.

REFERENCES
 G.P. Agrawal, Fiber-Optic Communication Systems, Joinery & Sons, Inc., second
edition, 1997.
 G. Keiser, Optical Fiber Communications, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, third
edition, 2000.
 "The life and times of the LED — a 100-year history" The Optoelectronics
Research Centre, University of Southampton.
 "Semiconductor Radiant Diode", James R. Biard and Gary Pittman.
 "Inventor of Long-Lasting, Low-Heat Light Source Awarded $500,000 Lemelson-
MIT Prize for Invention". Washington, D.C. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 "LED". The American heritage science dictionary. Houghton Mifflin
Company. Led and LED.
 "Modeling the radiation pattern of LEDs". Optics express.
 Surya, Shirley (2008). "Patterns: Design, Architecture, Interiors",page 204. DOM
Publishers, Singapore.

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