What is a light-emitting diode (LED bulbs)?

To bring light, people immediately think of those colorful variety of lighting fixtures store. Although these lamps of various shapes, but the lighting of the main core of the --- in fact, only two light bulbs: incandescent and fluorescent lamps.

However, this situation will change soon, because the lighting of the star --- LED bulbs are to the practical stage. LED was invented in the 1960s, in the ensuing decades, its basic use is as tape recorders and other electronic equipment lights. To maximize the potential of LED lighting, recently, scientists have developed a new type of light-emitting diodes for lighting lamps. This bulb has a high efficiency, long life, continuous use 10 million hours longer than ordinary incandescent bulbs 100 times. It is estimated that, worldwide, LED bulbs 90 billion pounds of market prospects. In the huge business opportunities to attract, some bulbs such as Philips and other manufacturers have started to invest hundreds of pounds, research and development of household LED bulb. Scientists predict that in the next five years, this bulb is likely to become the mainstream of the next generation of lighting products. As we all know, since the American inventor Thomas Edison invented the incandescent lamp has 100 years, people still used the basic technology to produce Edison's incandescent light bulbs. Light bulb in the middle is a piece of tungsten wire, when the current through tungsten filament light bulb to heat activate the gas glow. However, LED light bulbs in terms of structure or in the light principle, with the traditional incandescent lamp is essentially different. Light-emitting diode is composed of several thin layers of doped semiconductor material, a layer with the excess electron, due to lack of electrons to form another layer of positively charged "hole", when a current is passed, the electron and hole combined with each other and release energy, which radiates light. For a long time, why people did not LEDs used for lighting, mainly because usually only red light-emitting diode light or yellow light, in order to obtain white light, must also be manufactured that emits blue light-emitting diodes. In this way, red, yellow, and blue light "hybrid", you produce white light. Now, the trouble has finally been solved people's problems. Scientists have discovered a new type of gallium nitride semiconductor material --- it can be treated properly in blue. Blue light is resolved, the questions have been made white hope. University of Cambridge Department of Materials Science of Colin John Humphreys said they have developed in the experiment can be made white LED street light, this light bulb is very close with the sun, with good prospects. He said the light-emitting diode bulbs on a semiconductor material, so that a small light-emitting device can do, and only a few millimeters, to be installed in the wall or ceiling, if you do not turn on the lights, hardly notice their existence, so it eliminates the incandescent lamp to prevent light to be coupled with barbed eye trouble. In addition, the bulb life is very long, after the placement of almost no change, in the future people may forget how changing light bulbs is one thing. Currently, he is calling on the British Government to increase investment in order to ensure the UK in the forefront of this technology. In addition to durability, this kind of energy-saving light bulb in there is great potential. It is calculated that if half of the U.S. light bulb in use LED bulbs, you can shut down 24 power plants, saving billions of dollars, carbon dioxide emissions will be decreased. For this reason, the U.S. has plans to 2006, all the traffic lights use LED light display, so that each intersection can save $ 750 per year. Despite the many advantages of this lamp, but really into ordinary families also face two major obstacles. First, the price is too high, and now the price of each bulb is 30 pounds, while only 35 pence ordinary incandescent bulbs, the gap is too large. Second, it is hard to produce white light suitable for home use hair bulb. But the developers believe that the price of this lamp can be reduced in the next five years, each 5 pounds. By then, the LED bulbs will light from the traditional electronics emerged as the lighting of the star.