Organic LEDs Look Forward to a Bright, White Future

by Robert F. Service Science, 16 Dec 2005 If you want to save the world, you might start by getting rid of the light bulb. In the United States alone, lighting sucks up more than 6 quadrillion BTUs of energy every year, 17% of all the energy used in buildings. Incandescent bulbs turn about 90% of that energy into not light but heat. Fluorescents do better, converting 70% of the energy they use into light. But researchers have spent decades working to create novel semiconductor-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that do even better. Red LEDs and other colors made from inorganic compounds are already in widespread use in traffic lights, car taillights, and other niche applications. Inorganic white LEDs are also on the market. But so far, all of them remain too costly for general lighting use. Now a new competitor is coming on strong. Read more