This year's Nobel Prize for Physics recognises the invention of blue light-emitting diode (LED) as one of the breakthrough technologies that benefit the public. Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge are pushing the limits further by trying to develop more cost-effective gallium nitride LEDs that can have widespread use in homes and offices.

Plessey Semiconductors, a British manufacturer, is vying to be the first company to make energy-efficient LEDs for home lighting at a price that consumers will pay, and they're using a technology developed by Cambridge researchers.

In 2012, Plessey acquired the technology for growing a remarkable man-made material that can emit light in every part of the colour spectrum when electricity passes through it. They recommissioned a mothballed processing plant, created new jobs and hired three researchers from the University of Cambridge. Their aim: to put energy-efficient lighting within financial reach of the consumer.

Prototypes of their LEDs rolled off the production line later that year, and by April 2013 the company was gearing up to fulfil its first commercial orders. In just 15 months, Plymouth-based Plessey had gone from never having made an LED to being the world's first manufacturer of commercially available LEDs made on large-diameter silicon substrates.

Today, the company is addressing a global market that, according to a report released in 2013 by WinterGreen Research, could be worth up to $42 billion by 2019. What gives Plessey an edge over its competitors is its ability to manufacture LEDs at a fraction of the costs, thanks to a unique process developed by Sir Colin Humphreys, professor in the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride.

Blue and white gallium nitride (GaN) LEDs have been commercialised around the world since Shuji Nakamura in Japan developed a method of growing thin GaN layers on sapphire in the early 1990s. Although GaN LEDs are now expected to dominate the world market for lighting, their performance and cost both need to be improved. .

Humphreys' team developed a way of growing GaN on the vastly cheaper substrate silicon and, crucially, a means of scaling this for commercial purposes. "We've got lower costs for growing GaN LEDs on silicon than anyone else we know," noted Humphreys. "Potentially, this is an advantage that puts Britain right at the forefront of LED research."

Competition between manufacturers, including Toshiba and Samsung, to lead the market in competitively priced LEDs has been intense, driven by the increasing demand for energy-efficient lights.

By: DocMemory
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