LED Technology (Essay Sample)

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LED technology
Introduction
LED is simply the abbreviation of light emitting diodes. The LED technology was first invented in the 1960 by a group of the GE scientists. This technology is known to be widely different from traditional sources of light. The GE scientists are well known with a very outstanding track record in the field of the design of as well as building of the best LED lighting solutions. The LED technology consists of components that are entangled with innovative optical designs of thermal and electrical components that are meant to create LED lamps as well as electronic systems which are mainly optimized and characterized with high rated performance.
A light-emitting diode (LED) can be explained as a two-lead semiconductor source of light. It looks a rudimentary pn-junction diode that emits light when it is activated. When an appropriate voltage is pragmatically connected to the leads, the electrons are capable of recombining with electron holes that are within the connected device, hence releasing energy which is in the formula of photons. This outcome is called the process of electroluminescence, while the color that the light has which corresponds to the energy that the photon contains is dogged by the energy band break that the semiconductor contains. (Cangeloso, 2012)
In the early 1992s, the earliest LEDs, could emit some low intensity levels of infrared light. This light could be used as the transmission component of the remote control circuits. Some of these lights include those that are in remote controls and related circuits which are already presented in the many electronics. The first technology of LED constituted of very low intensities of such components which could be limited red. This is quite different with the modern LEDs which are regarded to constitute the ultraviolet light that is visible as well as the wavelengths of the infrared light. These component is characterized by high brightness which makes them different from the first LED technology.
The early LEDs were mostly used as the indicator lamps that were meant for electronic devices which could replace small incandescent bulbs. It was after a very short time that they were bundled into readouts that were numeric in nature. These readouts were composed in the form of seven segment displays which were very common in digital clocks.
In the most recent developments of the LEDs, there are new modifications that allow their use in environmental lighting as well as different and new task lighting systems. They are taught to be having so many advantages as opposed to the incandescent sources of light. Some of the advantageous characteristics include lower energy levels that the consumed by the LEDs, they are also characterized by a longer lifetime, they contain an improved physical robustness, they are of a smaller size as well as faster switching. The new LEDs have also allowed the new text and video displays that are improves which allow the sensors to undergo development. They may also be characterized by high rates of switching which are regarded to be among the useful components in the communications technology that has been advanced. This implies that the LEDs are particularly grown to be among the most important parts of the LED technology that have seen the most consumers directing to the components and appliances that use this technology because of the efficiency that they have depicted in the present world. (Held, Gilbert, 2009)
Materials used in LED technology
In general, diodes are made from very minute layers semiconductor material. There is a defiance of two layers where the first layer contains a deficit of electrons while the other has an excessive amount of electrons. This difference in presence of electrons in the layers will subject the electrons from moving from one layer to another which in the process will be able to generate light. The materials have gone to a point of adapting some of the tiniest lengths in manufacturing as far as 0.5 micron or even less. To understand this length, 1 micron will be equal to 1/10000 of an inch.
1 micron =
Material properties in the LED technology
There are also impurities that are found in the semi-conductor which have the sole purpose of creating the needed density of electrons. In order to understand what a semiconductor is, a semiconductor is referred to as a material that is in crystalline form which will conduct electricity under one major condition, which is, there must be a high concentration of impurities in the material. In that case, the slice of a semiconductor or even the wafer of the semiconductor can be seen as a single uniform crystal which will be formicated with the introduction of impurities. This can be done after the materials have been set to make up the LED technology material which is a later process that is done during the manufacturing process. To understand how the wafer is made, one is supposed to reflect on a cake. This cake undergoes the process of baking after mixing it with the baking content. This process must be done in a prescribed method. The following shows the particular materials which are semiconductors that are used during the process of manufacturing the LED technology components.
Gallium phosphide, abbreviated as GaP.
Gallium arsenide, abbreviated as GaAs.
Gallium arsenide phosphide, abbreviated as GaAsP
These semiconductor materials named above can be referred to as substrates which means that they may contain different amounts of impurities. The varying amounts of impurities are the ones that are responsible for the occurrence of different colors that can be emitted from the LED component.
For the device or component to be complete, there is a required amount of electricity to and from the component. In that case, the wires that bring electricity into the semiconductor and take the electricity away are supposed to be attached firmly into the substrate for the purposes of circuit completion. The wires are supposed to be stack firmly so that they can ensure that both the substrate and the wires withstand the subsequent electrical energy that is powered into and from the substrate. This simply means that the substrate is fed with the electrical energy while the wires are just used as the pathways with which the electrical energy passes to the substrate. Adding the necessary impurities to the material can be done through the process of Liquid Phase Epitaxy. In this process, the wafer can be put on a graphite slide and after which they are passed underneath the presence of the reservoirs of the molted GaAsP. The gold and silver components are the most commonly used when this process is being done.
Comparison of the semi-conductors with other materials
The design of the LED technology materials is very different from other material designs that work the same way, that is, light emitting components. In this case, in design, there are several quality features that must be taken into consideration especially the design of the materials. The materials should include both components of electronic and optic forms of the devices that are being intended to be manufactured. There must be desirable properties of the optical devices which may include the color of the device, efficiency as well as brightness which are supposed to be optimized without the consideration of an unreasonable physical or even the electrical design of the materials. The size of the diode is the major factor that will be the determinant of the properties of the materials that have been named above. There are also other factors that will affect these material properties which include the semiconductor materials that are being used in the manufacturing process to make the diodes, the layers that the diodes have as well as the thickness that they exhibit after manufacturing. The last factor is that of the amount and type of impurities that are being used during the doping process done to the semiconductor material.
Processing techniques
The whole process of coming up with a LED component may include four stages and processes that are done separately. The processes may include manufacture of the semiconductor wafers, the addition of the epitaxial layers, the addition of metal contacts and finally the mounting and packaging of the materials.
Manufacturing the semi-conductor materials.
The semiconductor material will be made using a specific process using specific material composition. The material composition in this case may include GaAs, GaP or even something else that is added in between the two materials. The materials and any other component used can be determined by the color that is used to lighten the LED that is being fabricated. The crystalline semiconductor can be grown in high levels of temperature as well as the use of a high pressure chamber. To come up with the material components that were named above, the components of Gallium, Arsenic and Phosphor can be mixed in particular amounts so as to come up with the particular material properties that are required. The heat that is being imparted to the materials as well as the pressure that is being exerted are meant to liquefy as well as press the components compact in order for them to become a particular solution of components, hence the particular material is achieved. The material components are often covered with specific layer of boron oxide which will act by sealing them off so that they do not escape and get into the pressurized gas that is found in the pressure chamber. Through this process level, they will be forced to stick together hence forming one component. This first stage of the whole process can be referred to as liquid encapsulation.
After the above process is done to capacity of a uniform solution...