The bright future of LED lighting

Nanotechnology could be the key to greatly increasing the light output from light emitting diodes (LEDs), thus paving the way for much brighter LED lights and lamps.

A researcher in Scotland has discovered that making millions of tiny holes in LEDs can greatly increase their light output. Dr Faiz Rahman at the University of Glasgow led the project to find ways of increasing light output. Due to the refractive properties of the material used to create LEDs, most of the light is reflected back into the light itself, reducing its potential light output.

Making tiny holes in the material releases more light. Initially the team used an electron microscope to make the holes, a completely uneconomic process due to the time taken to do just one LED. But a new technique, called nano-imprint lithography, allows the holes to be imprinted into the LED substrate during manufacture. Once the technique becomes widespread, LED lights should be bright enough to replace conventional tungsten and compact flourescent lighting, which will mean great energy savings, and never having to replace a bulb!