Technology Trends

Trends

Business | Research | Partnerships | Fundings | SciPiL | Apr 26, 2018
The Austrian Province of Burgenland Invests in Joanneum Research
The Austrian Province of Burgenland Invests in Joanneum Research At today’s press conference in Weiz, Austria, the provinces of Styria, Carinthia and Burgenland emphasised their prospective closer cooperation in the area of research. Burgenland holds an interest of five percent in Joanneum Research and will be active in the promising research area of “Smart Connected Lighting”. Thus, the research axis south of Carinthia through Styria into Burgenland is to be further reinforced, and international visibility of domestic research is to be increased. Read more »
Technologies | Light Generation | LEDs | Color LEDs | Mar 29, 2018
Scientists Reveal the Fundamental Limitation of In Concentration in InGaN Solid-State Devices
Scientists Reveal the Fundamental Limitation of In Concentration in InGaN Solid-State Devices For the first time an international research group has revealed the core mechanism that limits the indium (In) content in indium gallium nitride ((In, Ga)N) thin films - the key material for blue light emitting diodes (LED). Increasing the In content in InGaN quantum wells is the common approach to shift the emission of III-Nitride based LEDs towards the green and, in particular, red part of the optical spectrum, necessary for the modern RGB devices. The new findings answer the long-standing research question: why does this classical approach fail, when we try to obtain efficient InGaN-based green and red LEDs? Read more »
Business | Research News | Partnerships | Mar 14, 2018
Luger Research Creates an Active Network to Secure the Future of Innovation in Lighting: The First Meeting Will Take Place at the LpS 2017
Luger Research Creates an Active Network to Secure the Future of Innovation in Lighting: The First Meeting Will Take Place at the LpS 2017 Luger Research establishes the first scientific lighting partnership network for research experts and leaders in the lighting industry. The scientific partnership has been created to form an active network that will strengthen and build the connections between universities, research laboratories and industry. The scientific partnership’s mission is to enable and secure the continued development of innovation in lighting technology. Read more »
Resources | LpO Article | Statements | Technologies | Mar 05, 2018
Prof. Shuji Nakamura - The Future is Laser Lighting
Prof. Shuji Nakamura - The Future is Laser Lighting PROF. NAKAMURA SAID: "For violet LEDs we reach about 50-100 Acm-2 but the laser diode uses 3-10 kAcm-2 which is about 1,000 times higher than blue LEDs. This leads to very tiny chips in combination with the same phosphors such as YAG types. The light output is about 1,000 times higher than conventional LEDs with the same chip-size". Read more »
Technologies | Light Conversion | LEDs | Quantum Dots | Feb 26, 2018
Realizing Highly Efficient QD LEDs with Metallic Nanostructures at Low Cost
Realizing Highly Efficient QD LEDs with Metallic Nanostructures at Low Cost The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced that a team of their researchers have discovered a technology that enhances the efficiency of Quantum Dot LEDs. Professor Yong-Hoon Cho from the Department of Physics and his team succeeded in improving the efficiency of Quantum Dot (QD) Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) by designing metallic nanostructure substrates. Read more »
Technologies | Light Generation | Phosphors | Feb 22, 2018
Supercomputers Aid Discovery of New, Inexpensive Material to Make LEDs with Excellent Color Quality
Supercomputers Aid Discovery of New, Inexpensive Material to Make LEDs with Excellent Color Quality A team led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has used data mining and computational tools to discover a new phosphor material for white LEDs that is inexpensive and easy to make. Researchers built prototype white LED light bulbs using the new phosphor. The prototypes exhibited better color quality than many commercial LEDs currently on the market. Read more »
Resources | IP Snapshot | Technologies | Feb 16, 2018
100 Years Lighting IP Applications
100 Years Lighting IP Applications These IP Snapshots show approximately 100 years of patent applications of the IPC class F21 lighting and the IPC class H05 electric techniques. Both IPC classes are the most relevant in the lighting domain. Annually, over 60,000 applications are filed globally and an increasing number of IP applications is predicted over the next few years. Lighting, in general, and the electronics are, therefore, quite similar in numbers. Read more »
Technologies | Smart Lighting + IoT | Feb 06, 2018
Fraunhofer IIS IoT-Bus: The Secure Communication Bus - Not Just for Lighting
Fraunhofer IIS IoT-Bus: The Secure Communication Bus - Not Just for Lighting The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS is developing the IoT-Bus with IPv6 support and integrated security concept. It is a communication bus based on EIA/RS-485 and the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, which enables a secure and reliable data transmission of measured values and control commands and connectivity to the Internet of Things. The IoT-Bus forms a cross-media communication protocol and unites the two worlds of WPAN and fieldbuses without complex protocol conversion. The novel technology IoT-Bus is developed as part of the SEEDs project. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Technologies | Applications | Jan 15, 2018
Multi-Pixel LED Technology Opens New Horizons for Smart Lighting Applications
Multi-Pixel LED Technology Opens New Horizons for Smart Lighting Applications The evolution of Multi-Pixel LED technology has initiated a giant leap in the development of intelligent lighting systems which are most visible in the automotive industry. Now the first hybrid LED provides smart headlights with more than 1000 individually controllable pixels. Ralph Bertram, who is working on advanced LED device concepts, and Norbert Harendt, who is developing optics solutions for general lighting at Osram Opto Semiconductors, show that automotive lighting is just one of the potential areas in which intelligent selective pixel control can be applied. Options for the use in general lighting, such as information display for outdoor, indoor, retail or industrial applications, are very versatile. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | Sustainability | Environment | Jan 15, 2018
Repro-Light - Looking for a Sustainable and Modular Luminaire Architecture
Repro-Light - Looking for a Sustainable and Modular Luminaire Architecture The Repro-light project aims to re-conceptualize the European lighting industry towards more sustainability and competitiveness in terms of production and time to market. This will be achieved through the implementation of modular luminaire architecture and a smart production scheme, demonstrated by the development of a reconfigurable customized LED luminaire designed to improve the customers’ health. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | Optics | Engineering | Jan 15, 2018
Optimization of Freeform Optics Using T-Splines in LED Illumination Design
Optimization of Freeform Optics Using T-Splines in LED Illumination Design Freeform optics is the game changer in the illumination industry in terms of its ability to redirect the light into the target area. Non-Uniform Rational B-splines, commonly known as NURBS are widely used to represent freeform curves and surfaces. There are certain optical systems where local modification of the surface is necessary during the design or optimization phase. In such cases, NURBS cannot offer such transformations. But a new mathematical representation called T-splines make this feasible. Though its potentiality is well described, this has not been implemented in any optimization routine so far. Annie Shalom Isaac, Jiayi Long and Cornelius Neumann from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology demonstrate the advantage of the local refinement ability of T-splines by implementing it in the optimization routine and the results are evaluated. Results show that T-splines provide more uniform and homogenous light distribution as compared to NURBS at a faster convergence rate. This makes optical design or optimization using T-splines an intuitive approach for future freeform design tasks. Read more »
Resources | Tech-Talks Bregenz | Research | Light Generation | Jan 15, 2018
Tech-Talks BREGENZ - Julia Frohleiks, Researcher, University of Duisburg-Essen
Tech-Talks BREGENZ - Julia Frohleiks, Researcher, University of Duisburg-Essen In his commentary on technical progress and innovation, Dr. Sejkora said: “In the early stage, in the first phase of its life cycle, technology is mainly driven by fundamental research.” He went on to say that we can never predict how a technology will develop. Researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen, working in the Nano Energy Technical Center (NETZ), worked on this type of fundamental technology and their submission received the LpS 2017 Scientific Award. Ms. Julia Frohleiks, a Ph.D. student, was a major contributor to this research in the group led by Dr. Ekaterina Nannen and accepted the award in Dr. Nannen’s name. In the following interview she gives some background information and discloses future research possibilities. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Commentary | Trends | Jan 15, 2018
Can You Show Me the Next S-Curve, Please?
Can You Show Me the Next S-Curve, Please? The evolution of technologies is often described using the “S-curve” model. In the early stage, in the first phase of its life cycle, technology is mainly driven by fundamental research. Only a few players are active at that time and innovation steps are quite large. In the second phase, early adopters start to develop products and bring them to market. This phase is characterized by huge investments. In the third phase, more and more players enter the technology field, competition becomes important and development speed of the technology decreases. In the last phase, the technology is mature, (nearly) everybody can use it, there are fewer margins and the technology should be replaced by a new one. Many of the SSL technologies have meanwhile reached maturity. Where are the upcoming technologies, what will be the next S-curve? Looking at technology discussions and lectures at LpS 2017 I tried to find answers to these questions. Read more »
Resources | LpO Article | Event-Reports | Technologies | Measurement | Jan 11, 2018
Measurement Seminar – from SSL to Displays
Measurement Seminar – from SSL to Displays For the third consecutive year, Instrument Systems invited engineers from all industries that deal with light measurement of SSL products and different kinds of displays to their seminar. LED professional’s Editor in Chief, Arno Grabher-Meyer, was also pleased to receive (and accept) an invitation. In this article he shows what attendees can expect, who might find this event of interest, who would benefit the most and who should definitely not miss the next opportunity to attend. Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | Light Generation | Dec 13, 2017
Atomistic Calculations Predict that Boron Incorporation Increases the Efficiency of LEDs
Atomistic Calculations Predict that Boron Incorporation Increases the Efficiency of LEDs High-power white LEDs face the same problem that Michigan Stadium faces on game day -- too many people in too small of a space. Of course, there are no people inside of an LED. But there are many electrons that need to avoid each other and minimize their collisions to keep the LED efficiency high. Using predictive atomistic calculations and high-performance supercomputers at the NERSC computing facility, researchers Logan Williams and Emmanouil Kioupakis at the University of Michigan found that incorporating the element boron into the widely used InGaN (indium-gallium nitride) material can keep electrons from becoming too crowded in LEDs, making the material more efficient at producing light. Read more »
Augmented Reality | Technologies | Nov 13, 2017
NEC Improves Workplace Efficiency with AR Solution Utilizing Smart Glasses
NEC Improves Workplace Efficiency with AR Solution Utilizing Smart Glasses Tokyo, November 7, 2017 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) solution to assist users with the selection of items through the use of smart glasses, a smart watch and new "ARmKeypad" functions. This solution enables users to perform tasks without having to look away from objects, making it ideal for use in manufacturing, logistics and other industries. Currently, NEC is carrying out demonstration tests at a hospital pharmacy and a manufacturing floor, where it has confirmed a reduction in workplace errors and working time thanks to the assistance of the new solution. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Technologies | Light Generation | Tunable White Light | Oct 31, 2017
A New Technology Is Changing the Tunable White Solutions
A New Technology Is Changing the Tunable White Solutions Tunable white LEDs are one key element of human centric lighting. Until today, different solutions are currently available but none of them is easy to apply or cost effective enough to speed up the diffusion of human centric lights in building projects. A new approach for tunable white solutions is able to provide flexible lighting for multiple occasions without sacrificing output or going over project budget. Phil Lee, Senior Lighting Engineer from Meteor Lighting will compare this new technology, called ColorFlip™, to conventional tunable white solutions, and talk about current tunable white issues. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Technologies | LiFi | Oct 31, 2017
LiFi - What It Is, How It Works, What It Provides, How to Apply, and Its Future Prospects
LiFi - What It Is, How It Works, What It Provides, How to Apply, and Its Future Prospects The acronym LiFi (Light Fidelity) was born at the beginning of the 2010s. Its name derives from the very well-known WiFi (Wireless Fidelity). The term VLC (Visible Light Communication) is used in the restricted instances of visible light. Mr. Luc Chassage who works for Oledcomm and the Versailles University is also Scientific Committee President of the Global LiFi Congress that offers 20 lectures dealing with all aspects of LiFi. He is a profound expert in this technology field. Mr. Chassage explains the functionality, pitfalls and hurdles to overcome, the disadvantages and advantages, and best practice to apply LiFi. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Event-Reports | Technologies | Trends | Oct 31, 2017
LpS Gets a Younger Sibling to Foster a Holistic System Approach
LpS Gets a Younger Sibling to Foster a Holistic System Approach For the most part our readers are aware of the fact that the LpS has a strong focus on the component level, but after the 6th event, the Luger Research team realized that it was time to find a way to push the more holistic system approach. After much consideration and careful planning, the Trends in Lighting (TiL) Forum and Show was initiated and took place in conjunction with the LpS 2017. Arno Grabher-Meyer, Editor-in-Chief at LED professional took a close look at both exhibitions and the lectures to find out what the audience thought of the extension and broader outlook. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | Thermal Management | Oct 31, 2017
Thermal Issues Posed by Compact Packaging and IoT for Next Generation SSL
Thermal Issues Posed by Compact Packaging and IoT for Next Generation SSL Besides general lighting, LEDs are penetrating many areas. At the same time, Internet of Things (IoT) has been rapidly evolving. Added electronics are expected to add an additional 70% to overall heat generation. Therefore, solving thermal problems will become more important again; on a par with footprint area and cost. Prof. Mehmet Arik, Director of EVATEG Center for Energy Efficient Electronics and Lighting Technologies at the Ozyegin University, and Umut Zeynep Uras, master student at the Ozyegin University, present some of the current, local, hotspot thermal issues caused by tight packaging. The severity of the problem for future lighting systems with added IoT will also be discussed. Finally, possible technologies to meet those challenges will be shown. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research | Light Generation | Oct 31, 2017
Hybrid Quantum Dot Light Emitting Electrochemical Cells
Hybrid Quantum Dot Light Emitting Electrochemical Cells Several new light generation technologies that are overshadowed by LEDs and OLEDs are investigated. Most of these technologies are in a very early stage of research. One such technology, the LEC technology, was presented at LpS 2017. Light emitting electrochemical cells can be compared to OLEDs, but they are based on a much simpler inorganic architecture. The innovation in the presented approach lies in the combination with quantum dots, resulting in a hybrid solution. This novel attempt with all its consequences and future prospects was the reason that the LpS Scientific Award jury voted to bestow the award on Dr. Ekaterina Nannen, Group Leader of the Research Group „Solid State Lighting“ at the Nano-Energie-Technik- Zentrum (NETZ) of the University Duisburg-Essen and her research team, Julia Frohleiks and Svenja Wepfer. Read more »
Resources | LpR Article | Research News | CIE | Quality | Oct 31, 2017
Color Reproduction and Measurement of 3D Objects
Color Reproduction and Measurement of 3D Objects CIE Division 8 Image Technology is responsible for the study of the optical, visual and metrological aspects of the communication, processing, and reproduction of images, using all types of analogue and digital imaging devices, storage media, and imaging media. The Division is continually working on recommendations to improve color image reproduction techniques, including, for example, colorappearance models, color-difference evaluation and gamut-mapping algorithms. Current technology is able to transform color images from one digital medium to another, under various viewing conditions, while maintaining the appearance of each color in the image. This process has been applied in the graphic arts industry with great success. According to Kaida Xiao, Chair of CIE's Division 8 TC 8-17, the CIE standard observer and psychophysical data for color-appearance and color-difference modelling were developed using flat, 2D color samples. He explains that to meet the increasing requirements for color image reproduction for 3D objects, new research and recommendations are highly desired. Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | Light Generation | Automotive | Oct 02, 2017
Eviyos LED Prototype Revolutionizes Smart Headlights
Eviyos LED Prototype Revolutionizes Smart Headlights The Eviyos prototype developed by Osram Opto Semiconductors is the world’s first hybrid LED and represents major progress toward the first market-ready smart controllable high-resolution LED. As soon as oncoming traffic is detected the appropriate pixels are automatically switched off so drivers of oncoming vehicles are not dazzled. The prototype, integrated in a demonstrator from Osram Specialty Lighting, were on show for the first time at ISAL from September 25 through 27, 2017 in Darmstadt. Read more »
Technologies | OLEDs | Flexible OLEDs | Sep 21, 2017
OLEDs Applied to Paper-Thin Stainless Steel
OLEDs Applied to Paper-Thin Stainless Steel Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP, a provider of R&D in the field of organic electronics, will be presenting OLEDs on gauzy stainless steel foil during aimcal 2017 in Tampa/USA, from October 15-18, 2017. The novel application on display in Booth 22 was developed in cooperation with the Nippon Steel & Sumikin Materials Co., Ltd. (NSMAT) and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC). Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | Light Generation | Sep 15, 2017
Tracing the Light Inside an LED
Tracing the Light Inside an LED The performance of white LEDs can be improved, based on better knowledge of the absorption and scattering of light inside the LED. A new method, developed by the University of Twente in The Netherlands and Philips Lighting, can lead to efficiency improvement and powerful design tools. Read more »
Technologies | LEDs | Light Generation | Sep 15, 2017
Nanoparticles Could Spur Better LEDs, Invisibility Cloaks
Nanoparticles Could Spur Better LEDs, Invisibility Cloaks In an advance that could boost the efficiency of LED lighting by 50 percent and even pave the way for invisibility cloaking devices, a team of University of Michigan researchers has developed a new technique that peppers metallic nanoparticles into semiconductors. Read more »
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