Electronics and Communication Department

CCET, Sec 26
CHANDIGARH
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR
SIX WEEKS INDUSTRIAL TRAINING
at
Chandigarh
From 20 JUNE TO AUGUST 20!"
S#$m%tt&' $(
) RAJAT *
+ERTIFI+ATE
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCEN

I hereby certify that VISHAL Roll No.1100910!"#$ of Chandigarh College of
%ngg. and &echonlogy ' ha( )ndergone (i* +ee,( ind)(trial training fro- "0 .)ne '
"01/ to ! a)g)(t "01/ at o)r organi0ation to f)lfill the re1)ire-ent( for the a+ard of
degree in %C% 23ranch4. He +or,( on e-bedded 5ro.ect d)ring the training )nder
the ()5er6i(ion of 7i(( Neha. 8)ring her ten)re +ith )( +e fo)nd her (incere and
hard +or,ing. 9e +i(h her a great ()cce(( in the f)t)re.


Signature of the Student




,++ INSTITUTE- +HANDIGARH
DUTY REPORT FORM
Name of the student : ER. RAJAT
Roll No. : 110686106180
Date of Reporting : 20.6.201
Reporting Department and !erson : "iss Neha
#rgani$ational %a&ult' name : ())
Address : *)# +,-+./ ,
th
%loor/
*e&tor ,-A
)handigarh
Telephone : 0102-26,6,00/ .08060/ .000800
Email : info1$&&india.&om
*tudent Name : RAJAT
Telephone2 "o3ile !hone : +6,6.2,1+
Email : Ra4at5umar21081gmail.&om
Topi& : "i&ro&ontroller
Area of Resear&h : Em3edded s'stem
*ignature of the *tudent 6ith date
A./0o12&'3&m&0t
44444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444
I would like to thank Chandigarh College of engg. and Technology Sec 26 , CHD for
providing this opportunity to carry out the si weeks industrial training !CC Institute,
Chandigarh.

I would like to epress a deep sense of gratitude and thanks profusely to "r. #al$ir Singh
centre head of Institute. %ithout the wise counsel and a$le guidance, it would have $een
i&possi$le to co&plete the report in this &anner.

I would like to thank the pro'ect coordinator "iss. (eha for providing all the &aterial
possi$le and encouraging throughout the course. It is great pleasure for &e to acknowledge
the assistance and contri$utions for his pro&pt and ti&ely help in the official clearances and
valua$le suggestions during the develop&ent of this pro'ect

)ast $ut not least, I epress &y heartiest gratitude to *l&ighty god, our +arents for their love
and $lessings to co&plete the pro'ect successfully.



About ZCC
*)#. +,-+./ ,
th
%loor
*e&. , A )handigarh/
!hone: 0102-26,6,00/ .08060
7e3site. (&&india.&om/ Email: info1$&&india.&om
!CC ,!ealous Co&puter Centre- was esta$lished on .st /uly 200.. It offers higher education
in co&puter Hardware and (etworking and also provides coaching in International
certifications like *1, "CS2, CC(*, )inu 3perating Syste&.
!CC also provides training of international standards. !CC institute4s own place&ent cell
assures 5uality place&ent on local, national, and international level to good perfor&er. !CC
Institute has .006 place&ent record in different co&panies like HC), Targus, %ipro,
*llegers and Tulip IT etc. 3ur pri&ary focus is on providing 5uality education to our
Students and provide $etter place&ent.
The vision of the !CC +rogra& is to provide students with knowledge and eperience that
adds value to co&puter education and Infor&ation
Technologies through research, product develop&ent, and application
of current tools to solving educational pro$le&s
3ur philosophy is different fro& our co&petitors %e don4t $elieve in 7watch me do this
training. - We believe in active learning. We make every minute of training relevent to
the student. Classes are small, hence effective. Training is interactive. Instructors bring
real-world exerience to the classroom, using easy methods. Sometimes even humour is
used to help students cut through foreign terms and get a full hands-on experience.
As a result, -- our classes simplify technical education; students learn faster and retain more.
AAIT
*uscan *cade&y of Infor&ation Technology +vt. )td. is an IS3 800.9 2000 Certified
Institute and also a unit of 7!CC Institute: Chandigarh;I(DI*. !CC institute was esta$lished
in 200. to facilitate a co&&on co&putational resource centre for the acade&ic progra&s.
*uscan *cade&y group is a distinctive, highly professional Co&puter 2ducational
organi<ation, engaged in career counseling and providing &ost authentic, pro&pt and highly
relia$le infor&ation to the students in the IT. *uscan *cade&y has &any franchisees in
Hi&achal +radesh and running successfully. The &ain reason to open **IT Institute at
different places is to provide education in re&ote areas where students are una$le to get good
education like other advance places. **IT has its own place&ent cell which helps the
D&5.r%6t%o0
A&5no6ledgement
E8e&uti9e summar'
)ontents
:ntrodu&tion of mi&ro&ontrolers
. 9olt regulated po6er-suppl'
:nterfa&ing ;.E.D. 6ith mi&ro&ontroller
:nterfa&ing 0-segment 6ith mi&ro&ontroller
:nterfa&ing ;.).D. 6ith mi&ro&ontroller
SYLLABUS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
+HAPTER !
MI+RO+ONTROLLERS
A m%.ro.o0tro22&r is a small &omputer on a single integrated &ir&uit &ontaining a pro&essor
&ore/ memor'/ and programma3le input2output peripherals. !rogram memor' in the form of
N#R flash or #T! R#" is also often in&luded on &hip/ as 6ell as a t'pi&all' small amount of
RA". "i&ro&ontrollers are designed for em3edded appli&ations/ in &ontrast to the
mi&ropro&essors used in personal &omputers or other general purpose appli&ations.
USES OF MI+RO+ONTROLLERS
"i&ro&ontrollers are used in automati&all' &ontrolled produ&ts and de9i&es/ su&h as automo3ile engine
&ontrol s'stems/ implanta3le medi&al de9i&es/ remote &ontrols/ offi&e ma&hines/ applian&es/ po6er
tools/ and to's. <' redu&ing the si$e and &ost &ompared to a design that uses a separate
mi&ropro&essor/ memor'/ and input2output de9i&es/ mi&ro&ontrollers ma5e it e&onomi&al to digitall'
&ontrol e9en more de9i&es and pro&esses. "i8ed signal mi&ro&ontrollers are &ommon/ integrating
analog &omponents needed to &ontrol non-digital ele&troni& s'stems.
WORKING AT LOW POWERS
*ome mi&ro&ontrollers ma' use four-3it 6ords and operate at &lo&5 rate fre=uen&ies as lo6 as , 5>$/
for lo6 po6er &onsumption ?milli6atts or mi&ro6atts@. The' 6ill generall' ha9e the a3ilit' to retain
fun&tionalit' 6hile 6aiting for an e9ent su&h as a 3utton press or other interruptA po6er &onsumption
6hile sleeping ?)!B &lo&5 and most peripherals off@ ma' 3e 4ust nano6atts/ ma5ing man' of them 6ell
suited for long lasting 3atter' appli&ations. #ther mi&ro&ontrollers ma' ser9e performan&e-&riti&al
roles/ 6here the' ma' need to a&t more li5e a digital signal pro&essor ?D*!@/ 6ith higher &lo&5 speeds
and po6er &onsumption.
Em$&''&' '&5%30
A mi&ro&ontroller &an 3e &onsidered a self-&ontained s'stem 6ith a pro&essor/ memor' and
peripherals and &an 3e used as an em3edded s'stem.
C1D
The ma4orit' of mi&ro&ontrollers in use toda'
are em3edded in other ma&hiner'/ su&h as automo3iles/ telephones/ applian&es/ and peripherals for
&omputer s'stems. These are &alled em3edded s'stems. 7hile some em3edded s'stems are 9er'
sophisti&ated/ man' ha9e minimal re=uirements for memor' and program length/ 6ith no operating
s'stem/ and lo6 soft6are &omple8it'.
INTERFA+ING
T'pi&al input and output de9i&es in&lude s6it&hes/ rela's/ solenoids/ ;EDs/ ;)D / ERA!>:) ;)D
displa's/ radio fre=uen&' de9i&es/ and sensors for data su&h as temperature/ humidit'/ light le9el et&.
Em3edded s'stems usuall' ha9e no 5e'3oard/ s&reen/ dis5s/ printers/ or other re&ogni$a3le :2#
de9i&es of a personal &omputer/ and ma' la&5 human intera&tion de9i&es of an' 5ind.
I0t&rr#6t5
"i&ro&ontrollers must pro9ide real time ?predi&ta3le/ though not ne&essaril' fast@ response to e9ents in
the em3edded s'stem the' are &ontrolling. 7hen &ertain e9ents o&&ur/ an interrupt s'stem &an signal
the pro&essor to suspend pro&essing the &urrent instru&tion se=uen&e and to 3egin an interrupt
ser9i&e routine ?:*R/ or Finterrupt handlerF@. The :*R 6ill perform an' pro&essing re=uired 3ased on
the sour&e of the interrupt 3efore returning to the original instru&tion se=uen&e. !ossi3le interrupt
sour&es are de9i&e dependent/ and often in&lude e9ents su&h as an internal timer o9erflo6/ &ompleting
an analog to digital &on9ersion/ a logi& le9el &hange on an input su&h as from a 3utton 3eing pressed/
and data re&ei9ed on a &ommuni&ation lin5. 7here po6er &onsumption is important as in 3atter'
operated de9i&es/ interrupts ma' also 6a5e a mi&ro&ontroller from a lo6 po6er sleep state 6here the
pro&essor is halted until re=uired to do something 3' a peripheral e9ent.
Pro3ram5
"i&ro&ontroller programs must fit in the a9aila3le on-&hip program memor'/ sin&e it 6ould 3e &ostl' to
pro9ide a s'stem 6ith e8ternal/ e8panda3le/ memor'. )ompilers and assem3lers are used to turn
high-le9el language and assem3ler language &odes into a &ompa&t ma&hine &ode for storage in the
mi&ro&ontrollerGs memor'. Depending on the de9i&e/ the program memor' ma' 3e permanent/ read-
onl' memor' that &an onl' 3e programmed at the fa&tor'/ or program memor' ma' 3e field-altera3le
flash or erasa3le read-onl' memor'.
R&a'%03 5&05or5
"an' em3edded s'stems need to read sensors that produ&e analog signals. This is the purpose of the
analog-to-digital &on9erter ?AD)@. *in&e pro&essors are 3uilt to interpret and pro&ess digital data/ i.e.
1s and 0s/ the' 6onGt 3e a3le to do an'thing 6ith the analog signals that ma' 3e sent to it 3' a de9i&e.
*o the analog to digital &on9erter is used to &on9ert the in&oming data into a form that the pro&essor
&an re&ogni$e. A less &ommon feature on some mi&ro&ontrollers is a digital-to-analog &on9erter ?DA)@
that allo6s the pro&essor to output analog signals or 9oltage le9els.
TIMERS
:n addition to the &on9erters/ man' em3edded mi&ropro&essors in&lude a 9ariet' of timers as 6ell. #ne
of the most &ommon t'pes of timers is the !rogramma3le :nter9al Timer ?!:T@. A !:T 4ust &ounts do6n
from some 9alue to $ero. #n&e it rea&hes $ero/ it sends an interrupt to the pro&essor indi&ating that it
has finished &ounting. This is useful for de9i&es su&h as thermostats/ 6hi&h periodi&all' test the
temperature around them to see if the' need to turn the air &onditioner on/ the heater on/ et&.
Time !ro&essing Bnit ?T!B@ is a sophisti&ated timer. :n addition to &ounting do6n/ the T!B &an dete&t
input e9ents/ generate output e9ents/ and perform other useful operations.
PWM
A dedi&ated !ulse 7idth "odulation ?!7"@ 3lo&5 ma5es it possi3le for the )!B to &ontrol po6er
&on9erters/ resisti9e loads/ motors/ et&./ 6ithout using lots of )!B resour&es in tight timer loops.
Bni9ersal As'n&hronous Re&ei9er2Transmitter ?BART@ 3lo&5 ma5es it possi3le to re&ei9e and transmit
data o9er a serial line 6ith 9er' little load on the )!B. Dedi&ated on-&hip hard6are also often in&ludes
&apa3ilities to &ommuni&ate 6ith other de9i&es ?&hips@ in digital formats su&h as :2) and *erial
!eripheral :nterfa&e ?*!:@.
H%37&r %0t&3rat%o0
:n &ontrast to general-purpose )!Bs/ mi&ro-&ontrollers ma' not implement an e8ternal address or data
3us as the' integrate RA" and non-9olatile memor' on the same &hip as the )!B. Bsing fe6er pins/
the &hip &an 3e pla&ed in a mu&h smaller/ &heaper pa&5age.
:ntegrating the memor' and other peripherals on a single &hip and testing them as a unit in&reases the
&ost of that &hip/ 3ut often results in de&reased net &ost of the em3edded s'stem as a 6hole. E9en if
the &ost of a )!B that has integrated peripherals is slightl' more than the &ost of a )!B and e8ternal
peripherals/ ha9ing fe6er &hips t'pi&all' allo6s a smaller and &heaper &ir&uit 3oard/ and redu&es the
la3or re=uired to assem3le and test the &ir&uit 3oard.
A mi&ro-&ontroller is a single integrated &ir&uit/ &ommonl' 6ith the follo6ing features:
&entral pro&essing unit - ranging from small and simple ,-3it pro&essors to &omple8 2- or 6,-
3it pro&essors
dis&rete input and output 3its/ allo6ing &ontrol or dete&tion of the logi& state of an indi9idual
pa&5age pin
serial input2output su&h as serial ports ?BARTs@
other serial &ommuni&ations interfa&es li5e :H)/ *erial !eripheral :nterfa&e and )ontroller Area
Net6or5 for s'stem inter&onne&t
peripherals su&h as timers/ e9ent &ounters/ !7" generators/ and 6at&hdog
9olatile memor' ?RA"@ for data storage
R#" / E!R#"/ EE!R#" or %lash memor' for program and operating parameter storage
&lo&5 generator - often an os&illator for a =uart$ timing &r'stal/ resonator or R) &ir&uit
man' in&lude analog-to-digital &on9erters
in-&ir&uit programming and de3ugging support
This integration drasti&all' redu&es the num3er of &hips and the amount of 6iring and &ir&uit 3oard
spa&e that 6ould 3e needed to produ&e e=ui9alent s'stems using separate &hips. %urthermore/ and
on lo6 pin &ount de9i&es in parti&ular/ ea&h pin ma' interfa&e to se9eral internal peripherals/ 6ith the
pin fun&tion sele&ted 3' soft6are. This allo6s a part to 3e used in a 6ider 9ariet' of appli&ations than if
pins had dedi&ated fun&tions. "i&ro-&ontrollers ha9e pro9ed to 3e highl' popular in em3edded
s'stems sin&e their introdu&tion in the 1+00s.
*ome mi&ro&ontrollers use a >ar9ard ar&hite&ture: separate memor' 3uses for instru&tions and data/
allo6ing a&&esses to ta5e pla&e &on&urrentl'. 7here a >ar9ard ar&hite&ture is used/ instru&tion 6ords
for the pro&essor ma' 3e a different 3it si$e than the length of internal memor' and registersA for
e8ample: 12-3it instru&tions used 6ith 8-3it data registers.
The de&ision of 6hi&h peripheral to integrate is often diffi&ult. The mi&ro&ontroller 9endors often trade
operating fre=uen&ies and s'stem design fle8i3ilit' against time-to-mar5et re=uirements from their
&ustomers and o9erall lo6er s'stem &ost. "anufa&turers ha9e to 3alan&e the need to minimi$e the
&hip si$e against additional fun&tionalit'.
"i&ro&ontroller ar&hite&tures 9ar' 6idel'. *ome designs in&lude general-purpose mi&ropro&essor
&ores/ 6ith one or more R#"/ RA"/ or :2# fun&tions integrated onto the pa&5age. #ther designs are
purpose 3uilt for &ontrol appli&ations. A mi&ro-&ontroller instru&tion set usuall' has man' instru&tions
intended for 3it-6ise operations to ma5e &ontrol programs more &ompa&t.
C2D
%or e8ample/ a general
purpose pro&essor might re=uire se9eral instru&tions to test a 3it in a register and 3ran&h if the 3it is
set/ 6here a mi&ro-&ontroller &ould ha9e a single instru&tion to pro9ide that &ommonl'-re=uired
fun&tion.
"i&ro&ontrollers t'pi&all' do not ha9e a math &opro&essor/ so floating point arithmeti& is performed 3'
soft6are.
8o2#m&5
A3out ..I of all )!Bs sold in the 6orld are 8-3it mi&ro&ontrollers and mi&ropro&essors. A&&ording to
*emi&o/ o9er four 3illion 8-3it mi&ro&ontrollers 6ere sold in 2006.
CD
A t'pi&al home in a de9eloped &ountr' is li5el' to ha9e onl' four general-purpose mi&ropro&essors 3ut
around three do$en mi&ro&ontrollers. A t'pi&al mid-range automo3ile has as man' as 0 or more
mi&ro&ontrollers. The' &an also 3e found in man' ele&tri&al de9i&e su&h as 6ashing ma&hines/
mi&ro6a9e o9ens/ and telephones.
A !:) 18%8020 m%.ro.o0tro22&r in an 80-pin TJ%! pa&5age.
"anufa&turers ha9e often produ&ed spe&ial 9ersions of their mi&ro&ontrollers in order to help the
hard6are and soft6are de9elopment of the target s'stem. #riginall' these in&luded E!R#" 9ersions
that ha9e a F6indo6F on the top of the de9i&e through 6hi&h program memor' &an 3e erased 3'
ultra9iolet light/ read' for reprogramming after a programming ?F3urnF@ and test &'&le. *in&e 1++8/
E!R#" 9ersions are rare and ha9e 3een repla&ed 3' EE!R#" and flash/ 6hi&h are easier to use
?&an 3e erased ele&troni&all'@ and &heaper to manufa&ture.
#ther 9ersions ma' 3e a9aila3le 6here the R#" is a&&essed as an e8ternal de9i&e rather than as
internal memor'/ ho6e9er these are 3e&oming in&reasingl' rare due to the 6idespread a9aila3ilit' of
&heap mi&ro&ontroller programmers.
The use of field-programma3le de9i&es on a mi&ro&ontroller ma' allo6 field update of the firm6are or
permit late fa&tor' re9isions to produ&ts that ha9e 3een assem3led 3ut not 'et shipped. !rogramma3le
memor' also redu&es the lead time re=uired for deplo'ment of a ne6 produ&t.
7here hundreds of thousands of identi&al de9i&es are re=uired/ using parts programmed at the time of
manufa&ture &an 3e an e&onomi&al option. These Gmas5 programmedG parts ha9e the program laid
do6n in the same 6a' as the logi& of the &hip/ at the same time.
Pro3ramm%03 &09%ro0m&0t5
"i&ro&ontrollers 6ere originall' programmed onl' in assem3l' language/ 3ut 9arious high-le9el
programming languages are no6 also in &ommon use to target mi&ro&ontrollers. These languages are
either designed spe&iall' for the purpose/ or 9ersions of general purpose languages su&h as the )
programming language. )ompilers for general purpose languages 6ill t'pi&all' ha9e some restri&tions
as 6ell as enhan&ements to 3etter support the uni=ue &hara&teristi&s of mi&ro&ontrollers. *ome
mi&ro&ontrollers ha9e en9ironments to aid de9eloping &ertain t'pes of appli&ations. "i&ro&ontroller
9endors often ma5e tools freel' a9aila3le to ma5e it easier to adopt their hard6are.
"an' mi&ro&ontrollers are so =uir5' that the' effe&ti9el' re=uire their o6n non-standard diale&ts of )/
su&h as *D)) for the 80.1/ 6hi&h pre9ent using standard tools ?su&h as &ode li3raries or stati&
anal'sis tools@ e9en for &ode unrelated to hard6are features. :nterpreters are often used to hide su&h
lo6 le9el =uir5s.
:nterpreter firm6are is also a9aila3le for some mi&ro&ontrollers. %or e8ample/ <A*:) on the earl'
mi&ro&ontrollers :ntel 80.2
C,D
A <A*:) and %#RT> on the (ilog (8
C.D
as 6ell as some modern de9i&es.
T'pi&all' these interpreters support intera&ti9e programming.
*imulators are a9aila3le for some mi&ro&ontrollers/ su&h as in "i&ro&hipGs "!;A< en9ironment. These
allo6 a de9eloper to anal'$e 6hat the 3eha9ior of the mi&ro&ontroller and their program should 3e if
the' 6ere using the a&tual part. A simulator 6ill sho6 the internal pro&essor state and also that of the
outputs/ as 6ell as allo6ing input signals to 3e generated. 7hile on the one hand most simulators 6ill
3e limited from 3eing una3le to simulate mu&h other hard6are in a s'stem/ the' &an e8er&ise
&onditions that ma' other6ise 3e hard to reprodu&e at 6ill in the ph'si&al implementation/ and &an 3e
the =ui&5est 6a' to de3ug and anal'$e pro3lems.
Re&ent mi&ro&ontrollers are often integrated 6ith on-&hip de3ug &ir&uitr' that 6hen a&&essed 3' an in-
&ir&uit emulator 9ia JTAE/ allo6 de3ugging of the firm6are 6ith a de3ugger
T(6&5 o: m%.ro.o0tro22&r5
*ee also: ;ist of &ommon mi&ro&ontrollers
As of 2008 there are se9eral do$en mi&ro&ontroller ar&hite&tures and 9endors in&luding:
68>)11
80.1
AR" pro&essors ?from man' 9endors@ using AR"0 or )orte8-" &ores are generall'
mi&ro&ontrollers
*T"i&roele&troni&s *T"8* ?8-3it@/ *T10 ?16-3it@ and *T"2 ?2-3it@
Atmel AKR ?8-3it@/ AKR2 ?2-3it@/ and AT+1*A"
%rees&ale )old%ire ?2-3it@ and *08 ?8-3it@
>ita&hi >8 / >ita&hi *uper>
>'perstone E12E2 ?2-3it/ %irst full integration of R:*) and D*! on one pro&essor &ore C1++6D
C1D@
":!* ?2-3it !:)2@
NE) K8.0
!:) ?8-3it !:)16/ !:)18/ 16-3it ds!:) 2 !:)2,@
!o6er!) :*E
!*o) ?!rogramma3le *'stem-on-)hip@
Ra33it 2000
Te8as :nstruments "i&ro&ontrollers "*!,0 ?16-3it@/ )2000 ?2-3it@/ and *tellaris ?2-3it@
Toshi3a T;)*-800
(ilog e(8 / e(80
H%5tor(
This se&tion re=uires e8pansion.
The first single-&hip mi&ropro&essor 6as the ,-3it :ntel ,00, released in 1+01/ headed 3' :ntels lead
resear&h s&ientist >unter >. >etfeld. 7ith the :ntel 8008 and more &apa3le mi&ropro&essors a9aila3le
o9er the ne8t se9eral 'ears.
These ho6e9er all re=uired e8ternal &hip?s@ to implement a 6or5ing s'stem/ raising total s'stem &ost/
and ma5ing it impossi3le to e&onomi&all' &omputerise applian&es.
The first &omputer s'stem on a &hip optimised for &ontrol appli&ations - m%.ro.o0tro22&r 6as the :ntel
80,8 released in 1+0.
Ccitation neededD
/ 6ith 3oth RA" and R#" on the same &hip. This &hip 6ould find its
6a' into o9er one 3illion !) 5e'3oards/ and other numerous appli&ations. At this time :ntels !resident/
;u5e J. Kalenter/ stated that the ?"i&ro&ontroller@ 6as one of the most su&&essful in the &ompanies
histor'/ and e8panded the di9isionGs 3udget o9er 2.I.
"ost mi&ro&ontrollers at this time had t6o 9ariants. #ne had an erasa3le EE!R#" program memor'/
6hi&h 6as signifi&antl' more e8pensi9e than the !R#" 9ariant 6hi&h 6as onl' programma3le on&e.
:n 1++/ the introdu&tion of EE!R#" memor' allo6ed mi&ro&ontrollers ?3eginning 6ith the "i&ro&hip
!:)1688,@ C2D
Ccitation neededD
@ to 3e ele&tri&all' erased =ui&5l' 6ithout an e8pensi9e pa&5age as re=uired
for E!R#"/ allo6ing 3oth rapid protot'ping/ and :n *'stem !rogramming.
The same 'ear/ Atmel introdu&ed the first mi&ro&ontroller using %lash memor'.
C6D
.
#ther &ompanies rapidl' follo6ed suit/ 6ith 3oth memor' t'pes.
)ost has plummeted o9er time/ 6ith the &heapest 8-3it mi&ro&ontrollers 3eing a9aila3le for under
L0.2. in =uantit' ?thousands@ in 200+/ and some 2-3it mi&ro&ontrollers around L1 for similar
=uantities.
No6ada's mi&ro&ontrollers are lo6 &ost and readil' a9aila3le for ho33'ists/ 6ith large online
&ommunities around &ertain pro&essors.
:n the future/ "RA" &ould potentiall' 3e used in mi&ro&ontrollers as it has infinite enduran&e and its
in&remental semi&ondu&tor 6afer pro&ess &ost is relati9el' lo6.
M%.ro.o0tro22&r &m$&''&' m&mor( t&.70o2o3(
*in&e the emergen&e of mi&ro&ontrollers/ man' different memor' te&hnologies ha9e 3een used.
Almost all mi&ro&ontrollers ha9e at least t6o different 5inds of memor'/ a non-9olatile memor' for
storing firm6are and a read-6rite memor' for temporar' data.
Data
%rom the earliest mi&ro&ontrollers to toda'/ si8-transistor *RA" is almost al6a's used as the
read26rite 6or5ing memor'/ 6ith a fe6 more transistors per 3it used in the register file. "RA" &ould
potentiall' repla&e it as it is ,-10 times denser 6hi&h 6ould ma5e it more &ost effe&ti9e.
:n addition to the *RA"/ some mi&ro&ontrollers also ha9e internal EE!R#" for data storageA and
e9en ones that donGt ha9e an' ?or donGt ha9e enough@ are often &onne&ted to e8ternal serial EE!R#"
&hip ?su&h as the <A*:) *tamp@ or e8ternal serial flash memor' &hip.
A fe6 re&ent mi&ro&ontrollers 3eginning in 200 ha9e Fself-programma3leF flash memor'
C0D
.
F%rm1ar&
The earliest mi&ro&ontrollers used hard-6ired or mas5 R#" to store firm6are. ;ater mi&ro&ontrollers
?su&h as the earl' 9ersions of the %rees&ale 68>)11 and earl' !:) mi&ro&ontrollers@ had =uart$
6indo6s that allo6ed ultra9iolet light in to erase the E!R#".
The "i&ro&hip !:)16)8,/ introdu&ed in 1++/
C8D
6as the first mi&ro&ontroller to use EE!R#" to store
firm6are.
Also in 1++/ Atmel introdu&ed the first mi&ro&ontroller using N#R %lash memor' to store firm6are.
C0D
!*o) mi&ro&ontrollers/ introdu&ed in 2002/ store firm6are in *#N#* flash memor'.
"RA" &ould potentiall' 3e used to store firm6are
CHAT!"#
ecti!ier
* recti!ier is an electrical device that converts alternating current ,*C- to direct current ,DC-, a process known
as recti!ication. =ectifiers have &any uses including as co&ponents of power supplies and as detectors of radio
signals. =ectifiers &ay $e &ade of solid state diodes, vacuu& tu$e diodes, &ercury arc valves, and other
co&ponents.
* device which perfor&s the opposite function ,converting DC to *C- is known as an inverter.
%hen only one diode is used to rectify *C ,$y $locking the negative or positive portion of the wavefor&-, the
difference $etween the ter& diode and the ter& rectifier is &erely one of usage, i.e., the ter& rectifier descri$es a
diode that is $eing used to convert *C to DC. *l&ost all rectifiers co&prise a nu&$er of diodes in a specific
arrange&ent for &ore efficiently converting *C to DC than is possi$le with only one diode. #efore the
develop&ent of silicon se&iconductor rectifiers, vacuu& tu$e diodes and copper,I- oide or seleniu& rectifier
stacks were used.
2arly radio receivers, called crystal radios, used a >cat4s whisker> of fine wire pressing on a crystal of galena
,lead sulfide- to serve as a point;contact rectifier or >crystal detector>. =ectification &ay occasionally serve in
roles other than to generate D.C. current per se. ?or ea&ple, in gas heating syste&s flame rectification is used to
detect presence of fla&e. Two &etal electrodes in the outer layer of the fla&e provide a current path, and
rectification of an applied alternating voltage will happen in the plas&a, $ut only while the fla&e is present to
generate it.
Half-wave rectification
In half wave rectification, either the positive or negative half of the *C wave is passed, while the other half is
$locked. #ecause only one half of the input wavefor& reaches the output, it is very inefficient if used for power
transfer. Half;wave rectification can $e achieved with a single diode in a one;phase supply, or with three diodes
in a three;phase supply.
The output DC voltage of a half wave rectifier can $e calculated with the following two ideal e5uations9
Full-wave rectification
* full;wave rectifier converts the whole of the input wavefor& to one of constant polarity ,positive or negative-
at its output. ?ull;wave rectification converts $oth polarities of the input wavefor& to DC ,direct current-, and is
&ore efficient. However, in a circuit with a non;center tapped transfor&er, four diodes are re5uired instead of
the one needed for half;wave rectification. ,See se&iconductors, diode-. ?our diodes arranged this way are called
a diode $ridge or $ridge rectifier9
$raet% &ridge rectifier' a full-(ave rectifier using ) diodes.
?or single;phase *C, if the transfor&er is center;tapped, then two diodes $ack;to;$ack ,i.e. anodes;to;anode or
cathode;to;cathode- can for& a full;wave rectifier. Twice as &any windings are re5uired on the transfor&er
secondary to o$tain the sa&e output voltage co&pared to the $ridge rectifier a$ove.
*ull-(ave rectifier using a transformer and # diodes.
*ull-(ave rectifier, (ith vacuum tu&e having t(o anodes.
* very co&&on vacuu& tu$e rectifier configuration contained one cathode and twin anodes inside a single
envelope@ in this way, the two diodes re5uired only one vacuu& tu$e. The ABC and ADE were popular ea&ples
of this configuration.
A three-phase &ridge rectifier.
+-phase AC input, half , full (ave rectified -C output (aveforms
?or three;phase *C, si diodes are used. Typically there are three pairs of diodes, each pair, though, is not the
sa&e kind of dou"le diode that would $e used for a full wave single;phase rectifier. Instead the pairs are in
series ,anode to cathode-. Typically, co&&ercially availa$le dou$le diodes have four ter&inals so the user can
configure the& as single;phase split supply use, for half a $ridge, or for three;phase use.
-isassem&led automo&ile alternator, sho(ing the six diodes that comprise a full-(ave three-phase &ridge
rectifier.
"ost devices that generate alternating current ,such devices are called alternators- generate three;phase *C. ?or
ea&ple, an auto&o$ile alternator has si diodes inside it to function as a full;wave rectifier for $attery charging
applications.
The average and root;&ean;s5uare output voltages of an ideal single phase full wave rectifier can $e calculated
as9
%here9
!dc,!av - the average or -C output voltage,
! - the pea. value of half (ave,
!rms - the root-mean-s/uare value of output voltage.
" 0 1 +.2)234
e 0 1 #.526#6
Peak loss
*n aspect of &ost rectification is a loss fro& the peak input voltage to the peak output voltage, caused $y the
$uilt;in voltage drop across the diodes ,around 0.F G for ordinary silicon p;n;'unction diodes and 0.E G for
Schottky diodes-. Half;wave rectification and full;wave rectification using two separate secondaries will have a
peak voltage loss of one diode drop. #ridge rectification will have a loss of two diode drops. This &ay represent
significant power loss in very low voltage supplies. In addition, the diodes will not conduct $elow this voltage,
so the circuit is only passing current through for a portion of each half;cycle, causing short seg&ents of <ero
voltage to appear $etween each >hu&p>.
Rectifier output smoothing
%hile half;wave and full;wave rectification suffice to deliver a for& of DC output, neither produces constant;
voltage DC. In order to produce steady DC fro& a rectified *C supply, a s&oothing circuit or filter is re5uired.
H.I
In its si&plest for& this can $e 'ust a reservoir capacitor or s&oothing capacitor, placed at the DC output of the
rectifier. There will still re&ain an a&ount of *C ripple voltage where the voltage is not co&pletely s&oothed.
"C-*ilter "ectifier' This circuit (as designed and simulated using 7ultisim 6 soft(are.
Si<ing of the capacitor represents a tradeoff. ?or a given load, a larger capacitor will reduce ripple $ut will cost
&ore and will create higher peak currents in the transfor&er secondary and in the supply feeding it. In etre&e
cases where &any rectifiers are loaded onto a power distri$ution circuit, it &ay prove difficult for the power
distri$ution authority to &aintain a correctly shaped sinusoidal voltage curve.
?or a given tolera$le ripple the re5uired capacitor si<e is proportional to the load current and inversely
proportional to the supply fre5uency and the nu&$er of output peaks of the rectifier per input cycle. The load
current and the supply fre5uency are generally outside the control of the designer of the rectifier syste& $ut the
nu&$er of peaks per input cycle can $e affected $y the choice of rectifier design.
* half;wave rectifier will only give one peak per cycle and for this and other reasons is only used in very s&all
power supplies. * full wave rectifier achieves two peaks per cycle and this is the $est that can $e done with
single;phase input. ?or three;phase inputs a three;phase $ridge will give si peaks per cycle and even higher
nu&$ers of peaks can $e achieved $y using transfor&er networks placed $efore the rectifier to convert to a
higher phase order.
To further reduce this ripple, a capacitor;input filter can $e used. This co&ple&ents the reservoir capacitor with
a choke ,inductor- and a second filter capacitor, so that a steadier DC output can $e o$tained across the ter&inals
of the filter capacitor. The choke presents a high i&pedance to the ripple current.
H.I
* &ore usual alternative to a filter, and essential if the DC load is very de&anding of a s&ooth supply voltage, is
to follow the reservoir capacitor with a voltage regulator. The reservoir capacitor needs to $e large enough to
prevent the troughs of the ripple getting $elow the voltage the DC is $eing regulated to. The regulator serves
$oth to re&ove the last of the ripple and to deal with variations in supply and load characteristics. It would $e
possi$le to use a s&aller reservoir capacitor ,these can $e large on high;current power supplies- and then apply
so&e filtering as well as the regulator, $ut this is not a co&&on strategy. The etre&e of this approach is to
dispense with the reservoir capacitor altogether and put the rectified wavefor& straight into a choke;input filter.
The advantage of this circuit is that the current wavefor& is s&oother and conse5uently the rectifier no longer
has to deal with the current as a large current pulse, $ut instead the current delivery is spread over the entire
cycle. The downside is that the voltage output is &uch lower J approi&ately the average of an *C half;cycle
rather than the peak.
Applications
A rectifier diode 8silicon controlled rectifier9 and associated mounting hard(are. The heavy threaded stud helps
remove heat.
The pri&ary application of rectifiers is to derive DC power fro& an *C supply. Girtually all electronic devices
re5uire DC, so rectifiers find uses inside the power supplies of virtually all electronic e5uip&ent.
Converting DC power fro& one voltage to another is &uch &ore co&plicated. 3ne &ethod of DC;to;DC
conversion first converts power to *C ,using a device called an inverter-, then use a transfor&er to change the
voltage, and finally rectifies power $ack to DC.
=ectifiers also find a use in detection of a&plitude &odulated radio signals. The signal &ay or &ay not $e
a&plified $efore detection $ut if un;a&plified a very low voltage drop diode &ust $e used. %hen using a
rectifier for de&odulation the capacitor and load resistance &ust $e carefully &atched. Too low a capacitance
will result in the high fre5uency carrier passing to the output and too high will result in the capacitor 'ust
charging and staying charged.
:utput voltage of a full-(ave rectifier (ith controlled thyristors
=ectifiers are also used to supply polarised voltage for welding. In such circuits control of the output current is
re5uired and this is so&eti&es achieved $y replacing so&e of the diodes in $ridge rectifier with thyristors, whose
voltage output can $e regulated $y &eans of phase fired controllers.
Thyristors are used in various classes of railway rolling stock syste&s so that fine control of the traction &otors
can $e achieved. Kate turn;off thyristors are used to produce alternating current fro& a DC supply, for ea&ple
on the 2urostar Trains to power the three;p hase traction &otors.
H2I

CHAT!"+
SE#EN SE$MENT DIS%&AY
5&9&0;5&3m&0t %0'%.ator/ is a form of ele&troni& displa' de9i&e for displa'ing de&imal numerals that
is an alternati9e to the more &omple8 dot-matri8 displa's. *e9en-segment displa's are 6idel' used in
digital &lo&5s/ ele&troni& meters/ and other ele&troni& de9i&es for displa'ing numeri&al information.
A se9en segment displa'/ as its name indi&ates/ is &omposed of se9en
elements. :ndi9iduall' on or off/ the' &an 3e &om3ined to produ&e simplified representations of the
ara3i& numerals. #ften the se9en segments are arranged in an obli1)e ?slanted@ arrangement/ 6hi&h
aids reada3ilit'.
Ea&h of the num3ers 0/ 6/ 0 and + ma' 3e represented 3' t6o or more different gl'phs on se9en-
segment displa's.
The se9en segments are arranged as a re&tangle of t6o 9erti&al segments on ea&h
side 6ith one hori$ontal segment on the top/ middle/ and 3ottom. Additionall'/ the se9enth segment
3ise&ts the re&tangle hori$ontall'. There are also fourteen-segment displa's and si8teen-segment
displa's ?for full alphanumeri&s@A ho6e9er/ these ha9e mostl' 3een repla&ed 3' dot-matri8 displa's.
The segments of a 0-segment displa' are referred to 3' the letters A to E/ as sho6n to the right/
6here the optional D! de&imal point ?an Feighth segmentF@ is used for the displa' of non-integer
num3ers.
The animation to the left &'&les through the &ommon gl'phs of the ten de&imal numerals and the si8
he8ade&imal Fletter digitsF ?AM%@. :t is an image se=uen&e of a F;EDF displa'/ 6hi&h is des&ri3ed
te&hnolog'-6ise in the follo6ing se&tion. Noti&e the 9ariation 3et6een upper&ase and lo6er&ase letters
for AM%A this is done to o3tain a uni=ue/ unam3iguous shape for ea&h letter.
*e9en segments are/ effe&ti9el'/ the fe6est re=uired to represent ea&h of the ten >indu-Ara3i&
numerals 6ith a distin&t and re&ogni$a3le gl'ph. <loggers ha9e e8perimented 6ith si8-segment and
e9en fi9e-segment displa's 6ith su&h no9el shapes as &ur9es/ angular 3lo&5s and serifs for segmentsA
ho6e9er/ these often re=uire &ompli&ated and2or non-uniform shapes and sometimes &reate
unre&ogni$a3le gl'phs.
C1D
A single 3'te &an en&ode the full state of a 0-segment-displa'. The most popular 3it en&odings are
gfedcba and abcdefg - 3oth usuall' assume 0 is off and 1 is on.
This ta3le gi9es the he8ade&imal en&odings for displa'ing the digits 0 to +:
Di'it '!edc"a a"cde!' A " c d e ! '
0 0E? 0F2 on on on on on on off
. 006 0E0 off on on off off off off
2 0A# 06D on on off on on off on
E 0C? 0F8 on on on on off off on
C 066 0EE off on on off off on on
A 06D 0A# on off on on off on on
6 0FD 0A? on off on on on on on
F 00F 0F0 on on on off off off off
L 0F? 0F? on on on on on on on
8 06? 0F# on on on on off on on
CHAT!" )
L%37t;&m%tt%03 '%o'&
L%37t;&m%tt%03 '%o'&
Red/ green and 3lue ;EDs of the .mm t'pe
T(6& !assi9e/ optoele&troni&
Wor/%03 6r%0.%62& Ele&trolumines&en&e
I09&0t&' Ni&5 >olon'a5 Jr. ?1+62@
E2&.tro0%. 5(m$o2
P%0 .o0:%3#rat%o0 Anode and )athode
A 2%37t;&m%tt%03 '%o'& ?LED@ ?pronoun&ed 2 l i di 2
C1D
@ is a semi&ondu&tor light sour&e. ;EDs are
used as indi&ator lamps in man' de9i&es/ and are in&reasingl' used for lighting. :ntrodu&ed as a
pra&ti&al ele&troni& &omponent in 1+62/
C2D
earl' ;EDs emitted lo6-intensit' red light/ 3ut modern
9ersions are a9aila3le a&ross the 9isi3le/ ultra9iolet and infrared 6a9elengths/ 6ith 9er' high
3rightness.
The ;ED is 3ased on the semi&ondu&tor diode. 7hen a diode is for6ard 3iased ?s6it&hed on@/
ele&trons are a3le to re&om3ine 6ith holes 6ithin the de9i&e/ releasing energ' in the form of photons.
This effe&t is &alled ele&trolumines&en&e and the &olor of the light ?&orresponding to the energ' of the
photon@ is determined 3' the energ' gap of the semi&ondu&tor. An ;ED is usuall' small in area ?less
than 1 mm
2
@/ and integrated opti&al &omponents are used to shape its radiation pattern and assist in
refle&tion.
CD
;EDs present man' ad9antages o9er in&andes&ent light sour&es in&luding lo6er energ'
&onsumption/ longer lifetime/ impro9ed ro3ustness/ smaller si$e/ faster s6it&hing/ and greater
dura3ilit' and relia3ilit'. ;EDs po6erful enough for room lighting are relati9el' e8pensi9e and re=uire
more pre&ise &urrent and heat management than &ompa&t fluores&ent lamp sour&es of &ompara3le
output.
The' are used in appli&ations as di9erse as repla&ements for a9iation lighting/ automoti9e lighting
?parti&ularl' indi&ators@ and in traffi& signals. The &ompa&t si$e of ;EDs has allo6ed ne6 te8t and
9ideo displa's and sensors to 3e de9eloped/ 6hile their high s6it&hing rates are useful in ad9an&ed
&ommuni&ations te&hnolog'. :nfrared ;EDs are also used in the remote &ontrol units of man'
&ommer&ial produ&ts in&luding tele9isions/ DKD pla'ers/ and other domesti& applian&es.
D%5.o9&r%&5 a0' &ar2( '&9%.&5
Ereen ele&trolumines&en&e from a point &onta&t on a &r'stal of *i) re&reates >. J. RoundGs original
e8periment from 1+00.
Ele&trolumines&en&e 6as dis&o9ered in 1+00 3' the <ritish e8perimenter >. J. Round of "ar&oni
;a3s/ using a &r'stal of sili&on &ar3ide and a &atGs-6his5er dete&tor.
C,DC.D
Russian #leg Kladimiro9i&h
;ose9 independentl' reported on the &reation of an ;ED in 1+20.
C6DC0D
>is resear&h 6as distri3uted in
Russian/ Eerman and <ritish s&ientifi& 4ournals/ 3ut no pra&ti&al use 6as made of the dis&o9er' for
se9eral de&ades.
C8DC+D
Ru3in <raunstein of the Radio )orporation of Ameri&a reported on infrared
emission from gallium arsenide ?EaAs@ and other semi&ondu&tor allo's in 1+...
C10D
<raunstein
o3ser9ed infrared emission generated 3' simple diode stru&tures using gallium antimonide ?Ea*3@/
EaAs/ indium phosphide ?:n!@/ and sili&on-germanium ?*iEe@ allo's at room temperature and at
00 5el9in.
:n 1+61/ Ameri&an e8perimenters Ro3ert <iard and Ear' !ittman 6or5ing at Te8as :nstruments/
C11D
found that EaAs emitted infrared radiation 6hen ele&tri& &urrent 6as applied and re&ei9ed the patent
for the infrared ;ED.
The first pra&ti&al 9isi3le-spe&trum ?red@ ;ED 6as de9eloped in 1+62 3' Ni&5 >olon'a5 Jr./ 6hile
6or5ing at Eeneral Ele&tri& )ompan'.
C2D
>olon'a5 is seen as the Ffather of the light-emitting diodeF.
C12D
". Eeorge )raford/
C1D
a former graduate student of >olon'a5/ in9ented the first 'ello6 ;ED and
impro9ed the 3rightness of red and red-orange ;EDs 3' a fa&tor of ten in 1+02.
C1,D
:n 1+06/ T.!.
!earsall &reated the first high-3rightness/ high effi&ien&' ;EDs for opti&al fi3er tele&ommuni&ations 3'
in9enting ne6 semi&ondu&tor materials spe&ifi&all' adapted to opti&al fi3er transmission 6a9elengths.
C1.D
Bp to 1+68 9isi3le and infrared ;EDs 6ere e8tremel' &ostl'/ on the order of B* L200 per unit/ and so
had little pra&ti&al appli&ation.
C16D
The "onsanto )ompan' 6as the first organi$ation to mass-produ&e
9isi3le ;EDs/ using gallium arsenide phosphide in 1+68 to produ&e red ;EDs suita3le for indi&ators.
C16D
>e6lett !a&5ard ?>!@ introdu&ed ;EDs in 1+68/ initiall' using EaAs! supplied 3' "onsanto. The
te&hnolog' pro9ed to ha9e ma4or appli&ations for alphanumeri& displa's and 6as integrated into >!Gs
earl' handheld &al&ulators. :n the 1+00s &ommer&iall' su&&essful ;ED de9i&es at under fi9e &ents
ea&h 6ere produ&ed 3' %air&hild #ptoele&troni&s. These de9i&es emplo'ed &ompound semi&ondu&tor
&hips fa3ri&ated 6ith the planar pro&ess in9ented 3' Dr. Jean >oerni at %air&hild *emi&ondu&tor.
C10D
The &om3ination of planar pro&essing for &hip fa3ri&ation and inno9ati9e pa&5aging te&hni=ues
ena3led the team at %air&hild led 3' optoele&troni&s pioneer Thomas <randt to a&hie9e the ne&essar'
&ost redu&tions. These te&hni=ues &ontinue to 3e used 3' ;ED produ&ers.
C18D
)* Pra.t%.a2 #5&
Red/ 'ello6 and green ?unlit@ ;EDs used in a traffi& signal in *6eden.
The first &ommer&ial ;EDs 6ere &ommonl' used as repla&ements for in&andes&ent and neon
indi&ator lamps/ and in se9en-segment displa's/
C1+D
first in e8pensi9e e=uipment su&h as la3orator'
and ele&troni&s test e=uipment/ then later in su&h applian&es as TKs/ radios/ telephones/ &al&ulators/
and e9en 6at&hes ?see list of signal appli&ations@. These red ;EDs 6ere 3right enough onl' for use as
indi&ators/ as the light output 6as not enough to illuminate an area. Readouts in &al&ulators 6ere so
small that plasti& lenses 6ere 3uilt o9er ea&h digit to ma5e them legi3le. ;ater/ other &olors 3e&ame
6idel' a9aila3le and also appeared in applian&es and e=uipment. As the ;ED materials te&hnolog'
3e&ame more ad9an&ed/ the light output 6as in&reased/ 6hile maintaining the effi&ien&' and the
relia3ilit' to an a&&epta3le le9el. The in9ention and de9elopment of the high po6er 6hite light ;ED led
to use for illumination
C20DC21D
?see list of illumination appli&ations@. "ost ;EDs 6ere made in the 9er'
&ommon . mm T1N and mm T1 pa&5ages/ 3ut 6ith in&reasing po6er output/ it has 3e&ome
in&reasingl' ne&essar' to shed e8&ess heat in order to maintain relia3ilit'/
C22D
so more &omple8
pa&5ages ha9e 3een adapted for effi&ient heat dissipation. !a&5ages for state-of-the-art high po6er
;EDs 3ear little resem3lan&e to earl' ;EDs.
:llustration of >ait$Gs ;a6. ;ight output per ;ED as a fun&tion of produ&tion 'ear/ note the logarithmi&
s&ale on the 9erti&al a8is.
+o0t%0#%03 '&9&2o6m&0t
The first high-3rightness 3lue ;ED 6as demonstrated 3' *hu4i Na5amura of Ni&hia )orporation and
6as 3ased on :nEaN 3orro6ing on &riti&al de9elopments in EaN nu&leation on sapphire su3strates
and the demonstration of p-t'pe doping of EaN 6hi&h 6ere de9eloped 3' :samu A5asa5i and >.
Amano in Nago'a. :n 1++./ Al3erto <ar3ieri at the )ardiff Bni9ersit' ;a3orator' ?E<@ in9estigated the
effi&ien&' and relia3ilit' of high-3rightness ;EDs and demonstrated a 9er' impressi9e result 3' using
a transparent &onta&t made of indium tin o8ide ?:T#@ on ?AlEa:n!2EaAs@ ;ED. The e8isten&e of 3lue
;EDs and high effi&ien&' ;EDs =ui&5l' led to the de9elopment of the first 6hite ;ED/ 6hi&h emplo'ed
a OAl.#12:)e/ or FOAEF/ phosphor &oating to mi8 'ello6 ?do6n-&on9erted@ light 6ith 3lue to produ&e
light that appears 6hite. Na5amura 6as a6arded the 2006 "illennium Te&hnolog' !ri$e for his
in9ention.
C2D
The de9elopment of ;ED te&hnolog' has &aused their effi&ien&' and light output to in&rease
e8ponentiall'/ 6ith a dou3ling o&&urring a3out e9er' 6 months sin&e the 1+60s/ in a 6a' similar to
"ooreGs la6. The ad9an&es are generall' attri3uted to the parallel de9elopment of other
semi&ondu&tor te&hnologies and ad9an&es in opti&s and material s&ien&e. This trend is normall'
&alled >ait$Gs ;a6 after Dr. Roland >ait$.
C2,D
:n %e3ruar' 2008/ <il5ent uni9ersit' in Tur5e' reported 00 lumens of 9isi3le light per 6att luminous
effi&a&' ?not per ele&tri&al 6att@ and 6arm light 3' using nano&r'stals.
C2.D
:n Januar' 200+/ resear&hers from )am3ridge Bni9ersit' reported a pro&ess for gro6ing gallium
nitride ?EaN@ ;EDs on sili&on. !rodu&tion &osts &ould 3e redu&ed 3' +0I using si8-in&h sili&on 6afers
instead of t6o-in&h sapphire 6afers. The team 6as led 3' )olin >umphre's.
C26D
T&.70o2o3(
!arts of an ;ED
The inner 6or5ings of an ;ED
:-K diagram for a diode an ;ED 6ill 3egin to emit light 6hen the on-9oltage is e8&eeded. T'pi&al on
9oltages are 2- Kolt
P7(5%.5
;i5e a normal diode/ the ;ED &onsists of a &hip of semi&ondu&ting material doped 6ith impurities to
&reate a 5:n .)nction. As in other diodes/ &urrent flo6s easil' from the p-side/ or anode/ to the n-side/
or &athode/ 3ut not in the re9erse dire&tion. )harge-&arriersPele&trons and holesPflo6 into the
4un&tion from ele&trodes 6ith different 9oltages. 7hen an ele&tron meets a hole/ it falls into a lo6er
energ' le9el/ and releases energ' in the form of a photon.
The 6a9elength of the light emitted/ and therefore its &olor/ depends on the 3and gap energ' of the
materials forming the 5:n .)nction. :n sili&on or germanium diodes/ the ele&trons and holes re&om3ine
3' a non:radiati6e tran(ition 6hi&h produ&es no opti&al emission/ 3e&ause these are indire&t 3and gap
materials. The materials used for the ;ED ha9e a dire&t 3and gap 6ith energies &orresponding to
near-infrared/ 9isi3le or near-ultra9iolet light.
;ED de9elopment 3egan 6ith infrared and red de9i&es made 6ith gallium arsenide. Ad9an&es in
materials s&ien&e ha9e made possi3le the produ&tion of de9i&es 6ith e9er-shorter 6a9elengths/
produ&ing light in a 9ariet' of &olors.
;EDs are usuall' 3uilt on an n-t'pe su3strate/ 6ith an ele&trode atta&hed to the p-t'pe la'er deposited
on its surfa&e. !-t'pe su3strates/ 6hile less &ommon/ o&&ur as 6ell. "an' &ommer&ial ;EDs/
espe&iall' EaN2:nEaN/ also use sapphire su3strate.
"ost materials used for ;ED produ&tion ha9e 9er' high refra&ti9e indi&es. This means that mu&h light
6ill 3e refle&ted 3a&5 into the material at the material2air surfa&e interfa&e. Therefore Light e*traction
in L%8( is an important aspe&t of ;ED produ&tion/ su34e&t to mu&h resear&h and de9elopment.
E::%.%&0.( a0' o6&rat%o0a2 6aram&t&r5
T'pi&al indi&ator ;EDs are designed to operate 6ith no more than 0M60 milli6atts Cm7D of ele&tri&al
po6er. Around 1+++/ !hilips ;umileds introdu&ed po6er ;EDs &apa3le of &ontinuous use at one 6att
C7D. These ;EDs used mu&h larger semi&ondu&tor die si$es to handle the large po6er inputs. Also/
the semi&ondu&tor dies 6ere mounted onto metal slugs to allo6 for heat remo9al from the ;ED die.
#ne of the 5e' ad9antages of ;ED-3ased lighting is its high effi&ien&'/ as measured 3' its light output
per unit po6er input. 7hite ;EDs =ui&5l' mat&hed and o9ertoo5 the effi&ien&' of standard
in&andes&ent lighting s'stems. :n 2002/ ;umileds made fi9e-6att ;EDs a9aila3le 6ith a luminous
effi&a&' of 18M22 lumens per 6att Clm27D. %or &omparison/ a &on9entional 60M100 7 in&andes&ent
light3ul3 produ&es around 1. lm27/ and standard fluores&ent lights produ&e up to 100 lm27. A
re&urring pro3lem is that effi&ien&' 6ill fall dramati&all' for in&reased &urrent. This effe&t is 5no6n as
droop and effe&ti9el' limits the light output of a gi9en ;ED/ in&reasing heating more than light output
for in&reased &urrent.
C20DC28DC2+D
:n *eptem3er 200/ a ne6 t'pe of 3lue ;ED 6as demonstrated 3' the &ompan' )ree/ :n&. to pro9ide
2, m7 at 20 milliamperes CmAD. This produ&ed a &ommer&iall' pa&5aged 6hite light gi9ing 6. lm27 at
20 mA/ 3e&oming the 3rightest 6hite ;ED &ommer&iall' a9aila3le at the time/ and more than four
times as effi&ient as standard in&andes&ents. :n 2006 the' demonstrated a protot'pe 6ith a re&ord
6hite ;ED luminous effi&a&' of 11 lm27 at 20 mA. Also/ *eoul *emi&ondu&tor has plans for 1.
lm27 3' 2000 and 1,. lm27 3' 2008/ 6hi&h 6ould 3e approa&hing an order of magnitude
impro9ement o9er standard in&andes&ents and 3etter e9en than standard fluores&ents.
C0D
Ni&hia
)orporation has de9eloped a 6hite ;ED 6ith luminous effi&a&' of 1.0 lm27 at a for6ard &urrent of 20
mA.
C1D
>igh-po6er ?Q 1 7@ ;EDs are ne&essar' for pra&ti&al general lighting appli&ations. T'pi&al operating
&urrents for these de9i&es 3egin at .0 mA.
Note that these effi&ien&ies are for the ;ED &hip onl'/ held at lo6 temperature in a la3. :n a lighting
appli&ation/ operating at higher temperature and 6ith dri9e &ir&uit losses/ effi&ien&ies are mu&h lo6er.
Bnited *tates Department of Energ' ?D#E@ testing of &ommer&ial ;ED lamps designed to repla&e
in&andes&ent lamps or )%;s sho6ed that a9erage effi&a&' 6as still a3out ,6 lm27 in 200+ ?tested
performan&e ranged from 10 lm27 to 0+ lm27@.
C2D
)ree issued a press release on %e3ruar' / 2010 a3out a la3orator' protot'pe ;ED a&hie9ing 208
lumens per 6att at room temperature. The &orrelated &olor temperature 6as reported to 3e ,.0+ R.
CD
L%:&t%m& a0' :a%2#r&
"ain arti&le: ;ist of ;ED failure modes
*olid state de9i&es su&h as ;EDs are su34e&t to 9er' limited 6ear and tear if operated at lo6 &urrents
and at lo6 temperatures. "an' of the ;EDs produ&ed in the 1+00s and 1+80s are still in ser9i&e
toda'. T'pi&al lifetimes =uoted are 2./000 to 100/000 hours 3ut heat and &urrent settings &an e8tend
or shorten this time signifi&antl'.
C,D
The most &ommon s'mptom of ;ED ?and diode laser@ failure is the gradual lo6ering of light output
and loss of effi&ien&'. *udden failures/ although rare/ &an o&&ur as 6ell. Earl' red ;EDs 6ere nota3le
for their short lifetime. 7ith the de9elopment of high-po6er ;EDs the de9i&es are su34e&ted to higher
4un&tion temperatures and higher &urrent densities than traditional de9i&es. This &auses stress on the
material and ma' &ause earl' light output degradation. To =uantitati9el' &lassif' lifetime in a
standardi$ed manner it has 3een suggested to use the terms ;0. and ;.0 6hi&h is the time it 6ill ta5e
a gi9en ;ED to rea&h 0.I and .0I light output respe&ti9el'.
C.D
;i5e other lighting de9i&es/ ;ED performan&e is temperature dependent. "ost manufa&turersS
pu3lished ratings of ;EDs are for an operating temperature of 2.T). ;EDs used outdoors/ su&h as
traffi& signals or in-pa9ement signal lights/ and that are utili$ed in &limates 6here the temperature
6ithin the luminaire gets 9er' hot/ &ould result in lo6 signal intensities or e9en failure.
C6D
;EDs maintain &onsistent light output e9en in &old temperatures/ unli5e traditional lighting methods.
)onse=uentl'/ ;ED te&hnolog' ma' 3e a good repla&ement in areas su&h as supermar5et free$er
lighting
C0DC8DC+D
and 6ill last longer than other te&hnologies. <e&ause ;EDs do not generate as mu&h
heat as in&andes&ent 3ul3s/ the' are an energ'-effi&ient te&hnolog' to use in su&h appli&ations su&h
as free$ers. #n the other hand/ 3e&ause the' do not generate mu&h heat/ i&e and sno6 ma' 3uild up
on the ;ED luminaire in &older &limates.
C,0D
This has 3een a pro3lem plaguing airport run6a' lighting/
although some resear&h has 3een done to tr' to de9elop heat sin5 te&hnologies in order to transfer
heat to alternati9e areas of the luminaire.
C,1D
+o2or5 a0' mat&r%a25
)on9entional ;EDs are made from a 9ariet' of inorgani& semi&ondu&tor materials/ the follo6ing ta3le
sho6s the a9aila3le &olors 6ith 6a9elength range/ 9oltage drop and material:
+o2or
Wa9&2&03t7
<0m=
8o2ta3& <8= S&m%.o0'#.tor Mat&r%a2
:nfrared ; U 060 VV W 1.+
Eallium arsenide ?EaAs@
Aluminium gallium arsenide ?AlEaAs@
Red 610 W ; W 060
1.6 W VV W
2.0
Aluminium gallium arsenide ?AlEaAs@
Eallium arsenide phosphide ?EaAs!@
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide ?AlEa:n!@
Eallium?:::@ phosphide ?Ea!@
#range .+0 W ; W 610
2.0 W VV W
2.10
Eallium arsenide phosphide ?EaAs!@
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide ?AlEa:n!@
Eallium?:::@ phosphide ?Ea!@
Oello6 .00 W ; W .+0
2.10 W VV W
2.18
Eallium arsenide phosphide ?EaAs!@
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide ?AlEa:n!@
Eallium?:::@ phosphide ?Ea!@
Ereen .00 W ; W .00
1.+
C,2D
W VV W
,.0
:ndium gallium nitride ?:nEaN@ 2 Eallium?:::@ nitride ?EaN@
Eallium?:::@ phosphide ?Ea!@
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide ?AlEa:n!@
Aluminium gallium phosphide ?AlEa!@
<lue ,.0 W ; W .00
2.,8 W VV W
.0
(in& selenide ?(n*e@
:ndium gallium nitride ?:nEaN@
*ili&on &ar3ide ?*i)@ as su3strate
*ili&on ?*i@ as su3strate P ?under de9elopment@
Kiolet ,00 W ; W ,.0
2.06 W VV W
,.0
:ndium gallium nitride ?:nEaN@
!urple multiple t'pes
2.,8 W VV W
.0
Dual 3lue2red ;EDs/
3lue 6ith red phosphor/
or 6hite 6ith purple plasti&
Bltra9iolet ; W ,00 .1 W VV W ,.,
Diamond ?2. nm@
C,D
<oron nitride ?21. nm@
C,,DC,.D
Aluminium nitride ?AlN@ ?210 nm@
C,6D
Aluminium gallium nitride ?AlEaN@
Aluminium gallium indium nitride ?AlEa:nN@ P ?do6n to
210 nm@
C,0D
7hite <road spe&trum VV X .. <lue2BK diode 6ith 'ello6 phosphor
U2tra9%o2&t a0' $2#& LED5
<lue ;EDs.
<lue ;EDs are 3ased on the 6ide 3and gap semi&ondu&tors EaN ?gallium nitride@ and :nEaN ?indium
gallium nitride@. The' &an 3e added to e8isting red and green ;EDs to produ&e the impression of 6hite
light/ though 6hite ;EDs toda' rarel' use this prin&iple.
The first 3lue ;EDs 6ere made in 1+01 3' Ja&=ues !an5o9e ?in9entor of the gallium nitride ;ED@ at
R)A ;a3oratories.
C,8D
These de9i&es had too little light output to 3e of mu&h pra&ti&al use. >o6e9er/
earl' 3lue ;EDs found use in some lo6-light appli&ations/ su&h as the high-3eam indi&ators for &ars.
C,+D
:n the late 1+80s/ 5e' 3rea5throughs in EaN epita8ial gro6th and p-t'pe doping
C.0D
ushered in the
modern era of EaN-3ased optoele&troni& de9i&es. <uilding upon this foundation/ in 1++ high
3rightness 3lue ;EDs 6ere demonstrated.
C.1D
<' the late 1++0s/ 3lue ;EDs had 3e&ome 6idel' a9aila3le. The' ha9e an a&ti9e region &onsisting of
one or more :nEaN =uantum 6ells sand6i&hed 3et6een thi&5er la'ers of EaN/ &alled &ladding la'ers.
<' 9ar'ing the relati9e :nN-EaN fra&tion in the :nEaN =uantum 6ells/ the light emission &an 3e 9aried
from 9iolet to am3er. AlEaN aluminium gallium nitride of 9ar'ing AlN fra&tion &an 3e used to
manufa&ture the &ladding and =uantum 6ell la'ers for ultra9iolet ;EDs/ 3ut these de9i&es ha9e not 'et
rea&hed the le9el of effi&ien&' and te&hnologi&al maturit' of the :nEaN-EaN 3lue2green de9i&es. :f the
a&ti9e =uantum 6ell la'ers are EaN/ as opposed to allo'ed :nEaN or AlEaN/ the de9i&e 6ill emit
near-ultra9iolet light 6ith 6a9elengths around .0M00 nm. Ereen ;EDs manufa&tured from the
:nEaN-EaN s'stem are far more effi&ient and 3righter than green ;EDs produ&ed 6ith non-nitride
material s'stems.
7ith nitrides &ontaining aluminium/ most often AlEaN and AlEa:nN/ e9en shorter 6a9elengths are
a&hie9a3le. Bltra9iolet ;EDs in a range of 6a9elengths are 3e&oming a9aila3le on the mar5et. Near-
BK emitters at 6a9elengths around 0.M+. nm are alread' &heap and often en&ountered/ for
e8ample/ as 3la&5 light lamp repla&ements for inspe&tion of anti-&ounterfeiting BK 6atermar5s in
some do&uments and paper &urren&ies. *horter 6a9elength diodes/ 6hile su3stantiall' more
e8pensi9e/ are &ommer&iall' a9aila3le for 6a9elengths do6n to 2,0 nm.
C.2D
As the photosensiti9it' of
mi&roorganisms appro8imatel' mat&hes the a3sorption spe&trum of DNA/ 6ith a pea5 at a3out
260 nm/ BK ;ED emitting at 2.0M200 nm are to 3e e8pe&ted in prospe&ti9e disinfe&tion and
sterili$ation de9i&es. Re&ent resear&h has sho6n that &ommer&iall' a9aila3le BKA ;EDs ?6. nm@ are
alread' effe&ti9e disinfe&tion and sterili$ation de9i&es.
C.D
Deep-BK 6a9elengths 6ere o3tained in la3oratories using aluminium nitride ?210 nm@/
C,6D
3oron nitride
?21. nm@
C,,DC,.D
and diamond ?2. nm@.
C,D
W7%t& 2%37t
There are t6o primar' 6a's of produ&ing high intensit' 6hite-light using ;EDs. #ne is to use
indi9idual ;EDs that emit three primar' &olors
C.,D
Pred/ green/ and 3luePand then mi8 all the &olors to
produ&e 6hite light. The other is to use a phosphor material to &on9ert mono&hromati& light from a
3lue or BK ;ED to 3road-spe&trum 6hite light/ mu&h in the same 6a' a fluores&ent light 3ul3 6or5s.
Due to metamerism/ it is possi3le to ha9e =uite different spe&tra that appear 6hite.
RGB 5(5t&m5
)om3ined spe&tral &ur9es for 3lue/ 'ello6-green/ and high 3rightness red solid-state semi&ondu&tor
;EDs. %7>" spe&tral 3and6idth is appro8imatel' 2,M20 nm for all three &olors.
7hite light &an 3e produ&ed 3' mi8ing differentl' &olored light/ the most &ommon method is to use
red/ green and 3lue ?RE<@. >en&e the method is &alled multi-&olored 6hite ;EDs ?sometimes referred
to as RE< ;EDs@. <e&ause its me&hanism is in9ol9ed 6ith ele&tro-opti&al de9i&es to &ontrol the
3lending and diffusion of different &olors/ this approa&h is little used to produ&e 6hite lighting.
Ne9ertheless this method is parti&ularl' interesting in man' appli&ations 3e&ause of the fle8i3ilit' of
mi8ing different &olors/
C..D
and/ in prin&iple/ this me&hanism also has higher =uantum effi&ien&' in
produ&ing 6hite light.
There are se9eral t'pes of multi-&olored 6hite ;EDs: di-/ tri-/ and tetra&hromati& 6hite ;EDs. *e9eral
5e' fa&tors that pla' among these different approa&hes in&lude &olor sta3ilit'/ &olor rendering
&apa3ilit'/ and luminous effi&a&'. #ften higher effi&ien&' 6ill mean lo6er &olor rendering/ presenting a
trade off 3et6een the luminous effi&ien&' and &olor rendering. %or e8ample/ the di&hromati& 6hite
;EDs ha9e the 3est luminous effi&a&' ?120 lm27@/ 3ut the lo6est &olor rendering &apa3ilit'.
)on9ersel'/ although tetra&hromati& 6hite ;EDs ha9e e8&ellent &olor rendering &apa3ilit'/ the' often
ha9e poor luminous effi&ien&'. Tri&hromati& 6hite ;EDs are in 3et6een/ ha9ing 3oth good luminous
effi&a&' ?U00 lm27@ and fair &olor rendering &apa3ilit'.
7hat multi-&olor ;EDs offer is not merel' another solution of produ&ing 6hite light/ 3ut is a 6hole ne6
te&hni=ue of produ&ing light of different &olors. :n prin&iple/ most per&ei9a3le &olors &an 3e produ&ed
3' mi8ing different amounts of three primar' &olors/ and this ma5es it possi3le to produ&e pre&ise
d'nami& &olor &ontrol as 6ell. As more effort is de9oted to in9estigating this te&hni=ue/ multi-&olor
;EDs should ha9e profound influen&e on the fundamental method 6hi&h 6e use to produ&e and
&ontrol light &olor. >o6e9er/ 3efore this t'pe of ;ED &an trul' pla' a role on the mar5et/ se9eral
te&hni&al pro3lems need to 3e sol9ed. These &ertainl' in&lude that this t'pe of ;EDGs emission po6er
de&a's e8ponentiall' 6ith in&reasing temperature/
C.6D
resulting in a su3stantial &hange in &olor sta3ilit'.
*u&h pro3lems are not a&&epta3le for industrial usage. Therefore/ man' ne6 pa&5age designs aimed
at sol9ing this pro3lem ha9e 3een proposed and their results are no6 3eing reprodu&ed 3'
resear&hers and s&ientists.
)* P7o567or;$a5&' LED5
*pe&trum of a Y6hiteZ ;ED &learl' sho6ing 3lue light 6hi&h is dire&tl' emitted 3' the EaN-3ased ;ED
?pea5 at a3out ,6. nm@ and the more 3road3and *to5es-shifted light emitted 3' the )e
[
:OAE
phosphor 6hi&h emits at roughl' .00M000 nm.
This method in9ol9es &oating an ;ED of one &olor ?mostl' 3lue ;ED made of :nEaN@ 6ith phosphor of
different &olors to produ&e 6hite light/ the resultant ;EDs are &alled 67o567or;$a5&' 17%t& LED5.
C.0D
A fra&tion of the 3lue light undergoes the *to5es shift 3eing transformed from shorter 6a9elengths to
longer. Depending on the &olor of the original ;ED/ phosphors of different &olors &an 3e emplo'ed. :f
se9eral phosphor la'ers of distin&t &olors are applied/ the emitted spe&trum is 3roadened/ effe&ti9el'
in&reasing the &olor rendering inde8 ?)R:@ 9alue of a gi9en ;ED.
C.8D
!hosphor 3ased ;EDs ha9e a lo6er effi&ien&' than normal ;EDs due to the heat loss from the *to5es
shift and also other phosphor-related degradation issues. >o6e9er/ the phosphor method is still the
most popular te&hni=ue for manufa&turing high intensit' 6hite ;EDs. The design and produ&tion of a
light sour&e or light fi8ture using a mono&hrome emitter 6ith phosphor &on9ersion is simpler and
&heaper than a &omple8 RE< s'stem/ and the ma4orit' of high intensit' 6hite ;EDs presentl' on the
mar5et are manufa&tured using phosphor light &on9ersion.
The greatest 3arrier to high effi&ien&' is the seemingl' una9oida3le *to5es energ' loss. >o6e9er/
mu&h effort is 3eing spent on optimi$ing these de9i&es to higher light output and higher operation
temperatures. %or instan&e/ the effi&ien&' &an 3e in&reased 3' adapting 3etter pa&5age design or 3'
using a more suita3le t'pe of phosphor. !hilips ;umiledsG patented &onformal &oating pro&ess
addresses the issue of 9ar'ing phosphor thi&5ness/ gi9ing the 6hite ;EDs a more homogeneous
6hite light.
C.+D
7ith de9elopment ongoing/ the effi&ien&' of phosphor 3ased ;EDs is generall'
in&reased 6ith e9er' ne6 produ&t announ&ement.
Te&hni&all' the phosphor 3ased 6hite ;EDs en&apsulate :nEaN 3lue ;EDs inside of a phosphor
&oated epo8'. A &ommon 'ello6 phosphor material is &erium-doped 'ttrium aluminium garnet
?)e
[
:OAE@.
7hite ;EDs &an also 3e made 3' &oating near ultra9iolet ?NBK@ emitting ;EDs 6ith a mi8ture of high
effi&ien&' europium-3ased red and 3lue emitting phosphors plus green emitting &opper and aluminium
doped $in& sulfide ?(n*:)u/ Al@. This is a method analogous to the 6a' fluores&ent lamps 6or5. This
method is less effi&ient than the 3lue ;ED 6ith OAE:)e phosphor/ as the *to5es shift is larger and
more energ' is therefore &on9erted to heat/ 3ut 'ields light 6ith 3etter spe&tral &hara&teristi&s/ 6hi&h
render &olor 3etter. Due to the higher radiati9e output of the ultra9iolet ;EDs than of the 3lue ones/
3oth approa&hes offer &ompara3le 3rightness. Another &on&ern is that BK light ma' lea5 from a
malfun&tioning light sour&e and &ause harm to human e'es or s5in.
Ot7&r 17%t& LED5
Another method used to produ&e e8perimental 6hite light ;EDs used no phosphors at all and 6as
3ased on homoepita8iall' gro6n $in& selenide ?(n*e@ on a (n*e su3strate 6hi&h simultaneousl'
emitted 3lue light from its a&ti9e region and 'ello6 light from the su3strate.
C60D
Or3a0%. 2%37t;&m%tt%03 '%o'&5 <OLED5=
"ain arti&le: #rgani& light-emitting diode
:f the emitting la'er material of the ;ED is an organi& &ompound/ it is 5no6n as an organi& light
emitting diode ?#;ED@. To fun&tion as a semi&ondu&tor/ the organi& emitting material must ha9e
&on4ugated pi 3onds.
C61D
The emitting material &an 3e a small organi& mole&ule in a &r'stalline phase/
or a pol'mer. !ol'mer materials &an 3e fle8i3leA su&h ;EDs are 5no6n as !;EDs or %;EDs.
)ompared 6ith regular ;EDs/ #;EDs are lighter/ and pol'mer ;EDs &an ha9e the added 3enefit of
3eing fle8i3le. *ome possi3le future appli&ations of #;EDs &ould 3e:
:ne8pensi9e/ fle8i3le displa's
;ight sour&es
7all de&orations
;uminous &loth
#;EDs ha9e 3een used to produ&e 9isual displa's for porta3le ele&troni& de9i&es su&h as &ellphones/
digital &ameras/ and "! pla'ers. ;arger displa's ha9e 3een demonstrated/
C62D
3ut their life
e8pe&tan&' is still far too short ?W1/000 hours@ to 3e pra&ti&al
Ccitation neededD
.
Toda'/ #;EDs operate at su3stantiall' lo6er effi&ien&' than inorgani& ?&r'stalline@ ;EDs.
C6D
Q#a0t#m 'ot LED5 <&>6&r%m&0ta2=
A ne6 te&hni=ue de9eloped 3' "i&hael <o6ers/ a graduate student at Kander3ilt Bni9ersit' in
Nash9ille/ in9ol9es &oating a 3lue ;ED 6ith =uantum dots that glo6 6hite in response to the 3lue light
from the ;ED. This te&hni=ue produ&es a 6arm/ 'ello6ish-6hite light similar to that produ&ed 3'
in&andes&ent 3ul3s.
C6,D
Juantum dots are semi&ondu&tor nano&r'stals that possess uni=ue opti&al properties.
C6.D
Their
emission &olor &an 3e tuned from the 9isi3le throughout the infrared spe&trum. This allo6s =uantum
dot ;EDs to &reate almost an' &olor on the ):E diagram. This pro9ides more &olor options and 3etter
&olor rendering than 6hite ;EDs. Juantum dot ;EDs are a9aila3le in the same pa&5age t'pes as
traditional phosphor 3ased ;EDs.
:n *eptem3er 200+ Nano&o Eroup announ&ed that it has signed a 4oint de9elopment agreement 6ith
a ma4or Japanese ele&troni&s &ompan' under 6hi&h it 6ill design and de9elop =uantum dots for use in
light emitting diodes ?;EDs@ in li=uid &r'stal displa' ?;)D@ tele9isions.
C66D
T(6&5
;EDs are produ&ed in a 9ariet' of shapes and si$es. The . mm &'lindri&al pa&5age ?red/ fifth from the
left@ is the most &ommon/ estimated at 80I of 6orld produ&tion.
Ccitation neededD
The &olor of the plasti& lens
is often the same as the a&tual &olor of light emitted/ 3ut not al6a's. %or instan&e/ purple plasti& is
often used for infrared ;EDs/ and most 3lue de9i&es ha9e &lear housings. There are also ;EDs in
*"T pa&5ages/ su&h as those found on 3lin5ies and on &ell phone 5e'pads ?not sho6n@.
The main t'pes of ;EDs are miniature/ high po6er de9i&es and &ustom designs su&h as alphanumeri&
or multi-&olor.
M%0%at#r& LED5
Different si$ed ;EDs. 8 mm/ . mm and mm/ 6ith a 6ooden mat&h-sti&5 for s&ale.
"ain arti&le: "iniature light-emitting diode
These are mostl' single-die ;EDs used as indi&ators/ and the' &ome in 9arious-si$es from 2 mm to
8 mm/ through-hole and surfa&e mount pa&5ages. The' are usuall' simple in design/ not re=uiring
an' separate &ooling 3od'.
C60D
T'pi&al &urrent ratings ranges from around 1 mA to a3o9e 20 mA. The
small s&ale sets a natural upper 3oundar' on po6er &onsumption due to heat &aused 3' the high
&urrent densit' and need for heat sin5ing.
H%37 6o1&r LED5
*ee also: *olid-state lighting and ;ED lamp
>igh-po6er light emiting diodes ?;u8eon/ ;umileds@
>igh po6er ;EDs ?>!;ED@ &an 3e dri9en at &urrents from hundreds of mA to more than an ampere/
&ompared 6ith the tens of mA for other ;EDs. *ome &an produ&e o9er a thousand
C68DC6+D
lumens. *in&e
o9erheating is destru&ti9e/ the >!;EDs must 3e mounted on a heat sin5 to allo6 for heat dissipation.
:f the heat from a >!;ED is not remo9ed/ the de9i&e 6ill 3urn out in se&onds. A single >!;ED &an
often repla&e an in&andes&ent 3ul3 in a tor&h/ or 3e set in an arra' to form a po6erful ;ED lamp.
*ome 6ell-5no6n >!;EDs in this &ategor' are the ;umileds Re3el ;ed/ #sram #pto *emi&ondu&tors
Eolden Dragon and )ree \-lamp. As of *eptem3er 200+ some >!;EDs manufa&tured 3' )ree :n&.
no6 e8&eed 10. lm27
C00D
?e.g. the \;amp \!-E ;ED &hip emitting )ool 7hite light@ and are 3eing
sold in lamps intended to repla&e in&andes&ent/ halogen/ and e9en fluores&ent st'le lights as ;EDs
3e&ome more &ost &ompetiti9e.
;EDs ha9e 3een de9eloped 3' *eoul *emi&ondu&tor that &an operate on A) po6er 6ithout the need
for a D) &on9erter. %or ea&h half &'&le part of the ;ED emits light and part is dar5/ and this is
re9ersed during the ne8t half &'&le. The effi&a&' of this t'pe of >!;ED is t'pi&all' ,0 lm27.
C01D
A large
num3er of ;ED elements in series ma' 3e a3le to operate dire&tl' from line 9oltage. :n 200+ *eoul
*emi&ondu&tor released a high D) 9oltage &apa3le of 3eing dri9en from A) po6er 6ith a simple
&ontrolling &ir&uit. The lo6 po6er dissipation of these ;EDs affords them more fle8i3ilit' than the
original A) ;ED design.
Ccitation neededD
M%';ra03& LED5
"edium po6er ;EDs are often through-hole mounted and used 6hen a output of a fe6 lumen is
needed. The' sometimes ha9e the diode mounted to four leads ?t6o &athode leads/ t6o anode leads@
for 3etter heat &ondu&tion and &arr' an integrated lens. An e8ample of this is the *uperflu8 pa&5age/
from !hilips ;umileds. These ;EDs are most &ommonl' used in light panels/ emergen&' lighting and
automoti9e tail-lights. Due to the larger amount of metal in the ;ED/ the' are a3le to handle higher
&urrents ?around 100 mA@. The higher &urrent allo6s for the higher light output re=uired for tail-lights
and emergen&' lighting.
A662%.at%o0;56&.%:%. 9ar%at%o05
<la(hing L%8( are used as attention see5ing indi&ators 6ithout re=uiring e8ternal ele&troni&s.
%lashing ;EDs resem3le standard ;EDs 3ut the' &ontain an integrated multi9i3rator &ir&uit
6hi&h &auses the ;ED to flash 6ith a t'pi&al period of one se&ond. :n diffused lens ;EDs this
is 9isi3le as a small 3la&5 dot. "ost flashing ;EDs emit light of a single &olor/ 3ut more
sophisti&ated de9i&es &an flash 3et6een multiple &olors and e9en fade through a &olor
se=uen&e using RE< &olor mi8ing.
)al&ulator ;ED displa'/ 1+00s.
3i:color L%8( are a&tuall' t6o different ;EDs in one &ase. The' &onsist of t6o dies &onne&ted
to the same t6o leads antiparallel to ea&h other. )urrent flo6 in one dire&tion produ&es one
&olor/ and &urrent in the opposite dire&tion produ&es the other &olor. Alternating the t6o &olors
6ith suffi&ient fre=uen&' &auses the appearan&e of a 3lended third &olor. %or e8ample/ a
red2green ;ED operated in this fashion 6ill &olor 3lend to produ&e a 'ello6 appearan&e.
&ri:color L%8( are t6o ;EDs in one &ase/ 3ut the t6o ;EDs are &onne&ted to separate leads
so that the t6o ;EDs &an 3e &ontrolled independentl' and lit simultaneousl'. A three-lead
arrangement is t'pi&al 6ith one &ommon lead ?anode or &athode@.
Ccitation neededD
R=3 L%8( &ontain red/ green and 3lue emitters/ generall' using a four-6ire &onne&tion 6ith
one &ommon lead ?anode or &athode@. These ;EDs &an ha9e either &ommon positi9e or
&ommon negati9e leads. #thers ho6e9er/ ha9e onl' t6o leads ?positi9e and negati9e@ and
ha9e a 3uilt in tin' ele&troni& &ontrol unit.
Al5han)-eric L%8 di(5lay( are a9aila3le in se9en-segment and star3urst format. *e9en-
segment displa's handle all num3ers and a limited set of letters. *tar3urst displa's &an
displa' all letters. *e9en-segment ;ED displa's 6ere in 6idespread use in the 1+00s and
1+80s/ 3ut in&reasing use of li=uid &r'stal displa's/ 6ith their lo6er po6er &onsumption and
greater displa' fle8i3ilit'/ has redu&ed the popularit' of numeri& and alphanumeri& ;ED
displa's.
+o05%'&rat%o05 :or #5&
Po1&r 5o#r.&5
"ain arti&le: ;ED po6er sour&es
The &urrent29oltage &hara&teristi& of an ;ED is similar to other diodes/ in that the &urrent is dependent
e8ponentiall' on the 9oltage ?see *ho&5le' diode e=uation@. This means that a small &hange in
9oltage &an lead to a large &hange in &urrent. :f the ma8imum 9oltage rating is e8&eeded 3' a small
amount the &urrent rating ma' 3e e8&eeded 3' a large amount/ potentiall' damaging or destro'ing the
;ED. The t'pi&al solution is therefore to use &onstant &urrent po6er supplies/ or dri9ing the ;ED at a
9oltage mu&h 3elo6 the ma8imum rating. *in&e most household po6er sour&es ?3atteries/ mains@ are
not &onstant &urrent sour&es/ most ;ED fi8tures must in&lude a po6er &on9erter. >o6e9er/ the I2V
&ur9e of nitride-3ased ;EDs is =uite steep a3o9e the 5nee and gi9es an If of a fe6 milliamperes at a Vf
of K/ ma5ing it possi3le to po6er a nitride-3ased ;ED from a K 3atter' su&h as a &oin &ell 6ithout
the need for a &urrent limiting resistor.
E2&.tr%.a2 6o2ar%t(
"ain arti&le: Ele&tri&al polarit' of ;EDs
As 6ith all diodes/ &urrent flo6s easil' from p-t'pe to n-t'pe material.
C02D
>o6e9er/ no &urrent flo6s
and no light is produ&ed if a small 9oltage is applied in the re9erse dire&tion. :f the re9erse 9oltage
3e&omes large enough to e8&eed the 3rea5do6n 9oltage/ a large &urrent flo6s and the ;ED ma' 3e
damaged. :f the re9erse &urrent is suffi&ientl' limited to a9oid damage/ the re9erse-&ondu&ting ;ED is
a useful noise diode.
Sa:&t(
The 9ast ma4orit' of de9i&es &ontaining ;EDs are Fsafe under all &onditions of normal useF/ and so are
&lassified as F)lass 1 ;ED produ&tF2F;ED Rlasse 1F. At present/ onl' a fe6 ;EDsPe8tremel' 3right
;EDs that also ha9e a tightl' fo&used 9ie6ing angle of 8T or lessP&ould/ in theor'/ &ause temporar'
3lindness/ and so are &lassified as F)lass 2F.
C0D
:n general/ laser safet' regulationsPand the F)lass
1F/ F)lass 2F/ et&. s'stemPalso appl' to ;EDs.
C0,D
A'9a0ta3&5
E::%.%&0.(? ;EDs produ&e more light per 6att than in&andes&ent 3ul3s.
C0.D
Their effi&ien&' is
not affe&ted 3' shape and si$e/ unli5e %luores&ent light 3ul3s or tu3es.
+o2or? ;EDs &an emit light of an intended &olor 6ithout the use of the &olor filters that
traditional lighting methods re=uire. This is more effi&ient and &an lo6er initial &osts.
S%@&? ;EDs &an 3e 9er' small ?smaller than 2 mm
2C06D
@ and are easil' populated onto printed
&ir&uit 3oards.
O0AO:: t%m&? ;EDs light up 9er' =ui&5l'. A t'pi&al red indi&ator ;ED 6ill a&hie9e full
3rightness in under a mi&rose&ond.
C00D
;EDs used in &ommuni&ations de9i&es &an ha9e e9en
faster response times.
+(.2%03? ;EDs are ideal for use in appli&ations that are su34e&t to fre=uent on-off &'&ling/
unli5e fluores&ent lamps that 3urn out more =ui&5l' 6hen &'&led fre=uentl'/ or >:D lamps that
re=uire a long time 3efore restarting.
D%mm%03? ;EDs &an 9er' easil' 3e dimmed either 3' pulse-6idth modulation or lo6ering the
for6ard &urrent.
+oo2 2%37t? :n &ontrast to most light sour&es/ ;EDs radiate 9er' little heat in the form of :R that
&an &ause damage to sensiti9e o34e&ts or fa3ri&s. 7asted energ' is dispersed as heat
through the 3ase of the ;ED.
S2o1 :a%2#r&? ;EDs mostl' fail 3' dimming o9er time/ rather than the a3rupt 3urn-out of
in&andes&ent 3ul3s.
C08D
L%:&t%m&? ;EDs &an ha9e a relati9el' long useful life. #ne report estimates ./000 to .0/000
hours of useful life/ though time to &omplete failure ma' 3e longer.
C0+D
%luores&ent tu3es
t'pi&all' are rated at a3out 10/000 to 1./000 hours/ depending partl' on the &onditions of use/
and in&andes&ent light 3ul3s at 1/000M2/000 hours.
S7o./ r&5%5ta0.&? ;EDs/ 3eing solid state &omponents/ are diffi&ult to damage 6ith e8ternal
sho&5/ unli5e fluores&ent and in&andes&ent 3ul3s 6hi&h are fragile.
Fo.#5? The solid pa&5age of the ;ED &an 3e designed to fo&us its light. :n&andes&ent and
fluores&ent sour&es often re=uire an e8ternal refle&tor to &olle&t light and dire&t it in a usa3le
manner.
To>%.%t(? ;EDs do not &ontain mer&ur'/ unli5e fluores&ent lamps.
D%5a'9a0ta3&5
*ome F2#or&5.&0t 2am65 &an 3e more effi&ient.
H%37 %0%t%a2 6r%.&? ;EDs are &urrentl' more e8pensi9e/ pri&e per lumen/ on an initial &apital
&ost 3asis/ than most &on9entional lighting te&hnologies. The additional e8pense partiall'
stems from the relati9el' lo6 lumen output and the dri9e &ir&uitr' and po6er supplies needed.
T&m6&rat#r& '&6&0'&0.&? ;ED performan&e largel' depends on the am3ient temperature
of the operating en9ironment. #9er-dri9ing the ;ED in high am3ient temperatures ma' result
in o9erheating of the ;ED pa&5age/ e9entuall' leading to de9i&e failure. Ade=uate heat-
sin5ing is re=uired to maintain long life. This is espe&iall' important 6hen &onsidering
automoti9e/ medi&al/ and militar' appli&ations 6here the de9i&e must operate o9er a large
range of temperatures/ and is re=uired to ha9e a lo6 failure rate.
8o2ta3& 5&05%t%9%t(? ;EDs must 3e supplied 6ith the 9oltage a3o9e the threshold and a
&urrent 3elo6 the rating. This &an in9ol9e series resistors or &urrent-regulated po6er supplies.
C80D
L%37t B#a2%t(? "ost &ool-6hite ;EDs ha9e spe&tra that differ signifi&antl' from a 3la&5 3od'
radiator li5e the sun or an in&andes&ent light. The spi5e at ,60 nm and dip at .00 nm &an
&ause the &olor of o34e&ts to 3e per&ei9ed differentl' under &ool-6hite ;ED illumination than
sunlight or in&andes&ent sour&es/ due to metamerism/
C81D
red surfa&es 3eing rendered
parti&ularl' 3adl' 3' t'pi&al phosphor 3ased &ool-6hite ;EDs. >o6e9er/ the &olor rendering
properties of &ommon fluores&ent lamps are often inferior to 6hat is no6 a9aila3le in state-of-
art 6hite ;EDs.
Ar&a 2%37t 5o#r.&? ;EDs do not appro8imate a Ypoint sour&eZ of light/ 3ut rather a lam3ertian
distri3ution. *o ;EDs are diffi&ult to use in appli&ations re=uiring a spheri&al light field. ;EDs
are not &apa3le of pro9iding di9ergen&e 3elo6 a fe6 degrees. This is &ontrasted 6ith lasers/
6hi&h &an produ&e 3eams 6ith di9ergen&es of 0.2 degrees or less.
C82D
B2#& 7a@ar'? There is a &on&ern that 3lue ;EDs and &ool-6hite ;EDs are no6 &apa3le of
e8&eeding safe limits of the so-&alled 3lue-light ha$ard as defined in e'e safet' spe&ifi&ations
su&h as AN*:2:E*NA R!-20.1-0.: Re&ommended !ra&ti&e for !hoto3iologi&al *afet' for
;amp and ;amp *'stems.
C8DC8,D
B2#& 6o22#t%o0? <e&ause &ool-6hite ;EDs ?i.e./ ;EDs 6ith high &olor temperature@ emit
proportionall' more 3lue light than &on9entional outdoor light sour&es su&h as high-pressure
sodium lamps/ the strong 6a9elength dependen&e of Ra'leigh s&attering means that &ool-
6hite ;EDs &an &ause more light pollution than other light sour&es. The :nternational Dar5-
*5' Asso&iation dis&ourages the use of 6hite light sour&es 6ith &orrelated &olor temperature
a3o9e /000 R.
Ccitation neededD
A662%.at%o05
;ED lighting in a air&raft &a3in of the Air3us A20 Enhan&ed.
A large ;ED displa' 3ehind a dis& 4o&5e'.
;ED destination displa's on 3uses/ one 6ith a &olored route num3er.
An information sign outside a par5ing garage in *6eden. The 3lin5ing effe&t is due to the rapid
multiple8ing of ea&h ;ED ro6.
;ED digital displa' that &an displa' , digits along 6ith points.
Traffi& light using ;ED
7estern Australia !oli&e &ar using ;ED
!rinthead of an #5i ;ED printer
;ED da'time running lights of Audi A,
;ED panel light sour&e used in an e8periment on plant gro6th. The findings of su&h e8periments ma'
3e used to gro6 food in spa&e on long duration missions.
Appli&ation of ;EDs fall into four ma4or &ategories:
Kisual signal appli&ation 6here the light goes more or less dire&tl' from the ;ED to the human
e'e/ to &on9e' a message or meaning.
:llumination 6here ;ED light is refle&ted from o34e&t to gi9e 9isual response of these o34e&ts.
Eenerate light for measuring and intera&ting 6ith pro&esses that do not in9ol9e the human
9isual s'stem.
C8.D
Narro6 3and light sensors 6here the ;ED is operated in a re9erse-3ias mode and is
responsi9e to in&ident light instead of emitting light.
I0'%.ator5 a0' 5%305
The lo6 energ' &onsumption/ lo6 maintenan&e and small si$e of modern ;EDs has led to appli&ations
as status indi&ators and displa's on a 9ariet' of e=uipment and installations. ;arge area ;ED displa's
are used as stadium displa's and as d'nami& de&orati9e displa's. Thin/ light6eight message displa's
are used at airports and rail6a' stations/ and as destination displa's for trains/ 3uses/ trams/ and
ferries.
The single &olor light is 6ell suited for traffi& lights and signals/ e8it signs/ emergen&' 9ehi&le lighting/
shipsG lanterns and ;ED-3ased )hristmas lights. :n &old &limates/ ;ED traffi& lights ma' remain sno6
&o9ered.
C86D
Red or 'ello6 ;EDs are used in indi&ator and alphanumeri& displa's in en9ironments
6here night 9ision must 3e retained: air&raft &o&5pits/ su3marine and ship 3ridges/ astronom'
o3ser9atories/ and in the field/ e.g. night time animal 6at&hing and militar' field use.
<e&ause of their long life and fast s6it&hing times/ ;EDs ha9e 3een used for automoti9e high-
mounted 3ra5e lights and tru&5 and 3us 3ra5e lights and turn signals for some time/ 3ut man' 9ehi&les
no6 use ;EDs for their rear light &lusters. The use of ;EDs also has st'ling ad9antages 3e&ause
;EDs are &apa3le of forming mu&h thinner lights than in&andes&ent lamps 6ith para3oli& refle&tors.
The signifi&ant impro9ement in the time ta5en to light up ?perhaps 0.. s faster than an in&andes&ent
3ul3@ impro9es safet' 3' gi9ing dri9ers more time to rea&t. :t has 3een reported that at normal
high6a' speeds this e=uals one &ar length in&reased rea&tion time for the &ar 3ehind. 7hite ;ED
headlamps are 3eginning to ma5e an appearan&e. :n a dual intensit' &ir&uit?i.e. rear mar5ers and
3ra5es@ if the ;EDs are not pulsed at a fast enough fre=uen&'/ the' &an &reate a phantom arra'/
6here ghost images of the ;ED 6ill appear if the e'es =ui&5l' s&an a&ross the arra'.
Due to the relati9e &heapness of lo6 output ;EDs/ the' are also used in man' temporar' appli&ations
su&h as glo6sti&5s/ thro6ies/ and the photoni& te8tile ;umali9e. Artists ha9e also used ;EDs for ;ED
art.
7eather2all-ha$ards radio re&ei9ers 6ith *pe&ifi& Area "essage En&oding ?*A"E@ ha9e three ;EDs:
red for 6arnings/ orange for 6at&hes/ and 'ello6 for ad9isories ] statements 6hene9er issued.
)* L%37t%03
"ain arti&le: ;ED lamp
7ith the de9elopment of high effi&ien&' and high po6er ;EDs it has 3e&ome possi3le to in&orporate
;EDs in lighting and illumination. Repla&ement light 3ul3s ha9e 3een made as 6ell as dedi&ated
fi8tures and ;ED lamps. ;EDs are used as street lights and in other ar&hite&tural lighting 6here &olor
&hanging is used. The me&hani&al ro3ustness and long lifetime is used in automoti9e lighting on &ars/
motor&'&les and on 3i&'&le lights.
;ED street lights are emplo'ed on poles and in par5ing garages. :n 2000/ the :talian 9illage Torra&a
6as the first pla&e to &on9ert its entire illumination s'stem to ;EDs.
C80D
;EDs are used in a9iation lighting. Air3us has used ;ED lighting in their Air3us A20 Enhan&ed sin&e
2000/ and <oeing plans its use in the 080. ;EDs are also 3eing used no6 in airport and heliport
lighting. ;ED airport fi8tures &urrentl' in&lude medium intensit' run6a' lights/ run6a' &enterline lights
and o3stru&tion lighting.
;EDs are also suita3le for 3a&5lighting for ;)D tele9isions and light6eight laptop displa's and light
sour&e for D;! pro4e&tors ?*ee ;ED TK@. RE< ;EDs in&rease the &olor gamut 3' as mu&h as ,.I.
*&reens for TK and &omputer displa's &an 3e made in&reasingl' thin using ;EDs for 3a&5lighting.
C88D
;EDs are 3eing used in&reasingl' &ommonl' for a=uarium lighting. !arti&ular for reef a=uariums/ ;ED
lights pro9ide an effi&ient light sour&e 6ith less heat output to help maintain optimal a=uarium
temperatures. ;ED-3ased a=uarium fi8tures also ha9e the ad9antage of 3eing manuall' ad4usta3le to
produ&e a spe&ifi& &olor-spe&trum for ideal &oloration of &orals/ fish/ and in9erte3rates 6hile
optimi$ing photos'nethi&all' a&ti9e radiation ?!AR@ 6hi&h in&reases gro6th and sustaina3ilit' of
photos'ntheti& life su&h as &orals/ anemones/ &lams/ and ma&roalgae. These fi8tures &an 3e
ele&troni&all' programmed in order to simulate 9arious lighting &onditions throughout the da'/
refle&ting phases of the sun and moon for a d'nami& reef e8perien&e. ;ED fi8tures t'pi&all' &ost up to
fi9e times as mu&h as similarl' rated fluores&ent or high-intensit' dis&harge lighting designed for reef
a=uariums and are not as high output to date.
The la&5 of :R2heat radiation ma5es ;EDs ideal for stage lights using 3an5s of RE< ;EDs that &an
easil' &hange &olor and de&rease heating from traditional stage lighting/ as 6ell as medi&al lighting
6here :R-radiation &an 3e harmful.
*in&e ;EDs are small/ dura3le and re=uire little po6er the' are used in hand held de9i&es su&h as
flashlights. ;ED stro3e lights or &amera flashes operate at a safe/ lo6 9oltage/ as opposed to the
2.0[ 9olts &ommonl' found in 8enon flashlamp-3ased lighting. This is parti&ularl' appli&a3le to
&ameras on mo3ile phones/ 6here spa&e is at a premium and 3ul5' 9oltage-in&reasing &ir&uitr' is
undesira3le. ;EDs are used for infrared illumination in night 9ision appli&ations in&luding se&urit'
&ameras. A ring of ;EDs around a 9ideo &amera/ aimed for6ard into a retrorefle&ti9e 3a&5ground/
allo6s &hroma 5e'ing in 9ideo produ&tions.
;EDs are used for de&orati9e lighting as 6ell. Bses in&lude 3ut are not limited to indoor2outdoor de&or/
limousines/ &argo trailers/ &on9ersion 9ans/ &ruise ships/ RKs/ 3oats/ automo3iles/ and utilit' tru&5s.
De&orati9e ;ED lighting &an also &ome in the form of lighted &ompan' signage and step and aisle
lighting in theaters and auditoriums.
Smart 2%37t%03
;ight &an 3e used to transmit 3road3and data/ 6hi&h is alread' implemented in :rDA standards using
infrared ;EDs. <e&ause ;EDs &an &'&le on and off millions of times per se&ond/ the' &an/ in effe&t/
3e&ome 6ireless routers for data transport.
C8+D
;asers &an also 3e modulated in this manner.
S#5ta%0a$2& 2%37t%03
Effi&ient lighting is needed for sustaina3le ar&hite&ture. A 1 6att ;ED lamp produ&es ,.0 to 6.0
lumens.
C+0D
6hi&h is e=ui9alent to a standard ,0 6att in&andes&ent 3ul3.
C+1D
A standard ,0 7
in&andes&ent 3ul3 has an e8pe&ted lifespan of 1/000 hours 6hile an ;ED &an &ontinue to operate 6ith
redu&ed effi&ien&' for more than .0/000 hours/ .0 times longer than the in&andes&ent 3ul3.
E09%ro0m&0ta22( :r%&0'2( o6t%o05
A single 5ilo6att-hour of ele&tri&it' 6ill generate 1., pounds ?610 g@ of )#2 emissions.
C+2D
Assuming
the a9erage light 3ul3 is on for 10 hours a da'/ a single ,0-6att in&andes&ent 3ul3 6ill generate
1+6 pounds ?8+ 5g@ of )#2 e9er' 'ear. The 1-6att ;ED e=ui9alent 6ill onl' 3e responsi3le for
6 pounds ?2+ 5g@ of )#2 o9er the same time span. A 3uildingSs &ar3on footprint from lighting &an 3e
redu&ed 3' 68I 3' e8&hanging all in&andes&ent 3ul3s for ne6 ;EDs in 6arm &limates. :n &old
&limates/ the energ' sa9ing ma' 3e lo6er/ sin&e more heating 6ould 3e needed to &ompensate for
the lo6er temperature.
;EDs are also non-to8i& unli5e the more popular energ' effi&ient 3ul3 option: the &ompa&t fluores&ent
a.5.a. )%; 6hi&h &ontains tra&es of harmful mer&ur'. 7hile the amount of mer&ur' in a )%; is small/
introdu&ing less into the en9ironment is prefera3le.
E.o0om%.a22( 5#5ta%0a$2&
;ED light 3ul3s &ould 3e a &ost-effe&ti9e option for lighting a home or offi&e spa&e 3e&ause of their
9er' long lifetimes. )onsumer use of ;EDs as a repla&ement for &on9entional lighting s'stem is
&urrentl' hampered 3' the high &ost and lo6 effi&ien&' of a9aila3le produ&ts. 200+ D#E testing
results sho6ed an a9erage effi&a&' of . lm27/ 3elo6 that of t'pi&al )%;s/ and as lo6 as + lm27/
6orse than standard in&andes&ents.
C+0D
The high initial &ost of the &ommer&ial ;ED 3ul3 is due to the
e8pensi9e sapphire su3strate 6hi&h is 5e' to the produ&tion pro&ess. The sapphire apparatus must 3e
&oupled 6ith a mirror-li5e &olle&tor to refle&t light that 6ould other6ise 3e 6asted.
:n 2008/ a materials s&ien&e resear&h team at !urdue Bni9ersit' su&&eeded in produ&ing ;ED 3ul3s
6ith a su3stitute for the sapphire &omponents.
C+D
The team used metal-&oated sili&on 6afers 6ith a
3uilt-in refle&ti9e la'er of $ir&onium nitride to lessen the o9erall produ&tion &ost of the ;ED. The'
predi&t that 6ithin a fe6 'ears/ ;EDs produ&ed 6ith their re9olutionar'/ ne6 te&hni=ue 6ill 3e
&ompetiti9el' pri&ed 6ith )%;s. The less e8pensi9e ;ED 6ould not onl' 3e the 3est energ' sa9er/ 3ut
also a 9er' e&onomi&al 3ul3.
No0;9%5#a2 a662%.at%o05
;ight has man' other uses 3esides for seeing. ;EDs are used for some of these appli&ations. The
uses fall in three groups: )ommuni&ation/ sensors and light matter intera&tion.
The light from ;EDs &an 3e modulated 9er' =ui&5l' so the' are used e8tensi9el' in opti&al fi3er and
%ree *pa&e #pti&s &ommuni&ations. This in&lude remote &ontrols/ su&h as for TKs and K)Rs/ 6here
infrared ;EDs are often used. #pto-isolators use an ;ED &om3ined 6ith a photodiode or
phototransistor to pro9ide a signal path 6ith ele&tri&al isolation 3et6een t6o &ir&uits. This is espe&iall'
useful in medi&al e=uipment 6here the signals from a lo6 9oltage sensor &ir&uit ?usuall' 3atter'
po6ered@ in &onta&t 6ith a li9ing organism must 3e ele&tri&all' isolated from an' possi3le ele&tri&al
failure in a re&ording or monitoring de9i&e operating at potentiall' dangerous 9oltages. An optoisolator
also allo6s information to 3e transferred 3et6een &ir&uits not sharing a &ommon ground potential.
"an' sensor s'stems rel' on light as the signal sour&e. ;EDs are often ideal as a light sour&e due to
the re=uirements of the sensors. ;EDs are used as mo9ement sensors/ for e8ample in opti&al
&omputer mi&e. The Nintendo 7iiGs sensor 3ar uses infrared ;EDs. :n pulse o8imeters for measuring
o8'gen saturation. *ome flat3ed s&anners use arra's of RE< ;EDs rather than the t'pi&al &old-
&athode fluores&ent lamp as the light sour&e. >a9ing independent &ontrol of three illuminated &olors
allo6s the s&anner to &ali3rate itself for more a&&urate &olor 3alan&e/ and there is no need for 6arm-
up. %urthermore/ its sensors onl' need 3e mono&hromati&/ sin&e at an' one point in time the page
3eing s&anned is onl' lit 3' a single &olor of light. Tou&h sensing: *in&e ;EDs &an also 3e used as
photodiodes/ the' &an 3e used for 3oth photo emission and dete&tion. This &ould 3e used in for
e8ample a tou&h-sensing s&reen that register refle&ted light from a finger or st'lus.
C+,D
"an' materials and 3iologi&al s'stems are sensiti9e to/ or dependent on light. Ero6 lights use ;EDs
to in&rease photos'nthesis in plants
C+.D
and 3a&teria and 9iruses &an 3e remo9ed from 6ater and other
su3stan&es using BK ;EDs for sterili$ation.
C.D
#ther uses are as BK &uring de9i&es for some in5 and
&oating appli&ations as 6ell as ;ED printers.
The use of ;EDs is parti&ularl' interesting to plant &ulti9ators/ mainl' 3e&ause it is more energ'
effi&ient/ less heat is produ&ed ?&an damage plants &lose to hot lamps@ and &an pro9ide the optimum
light fre=uen&' for plant gro6th and 3loom periods &ompared to &urrentl' used gro6 lights: >!* ?high
pressure sodium@/ "> ?metal halide@ or )%;2lo6-energ'. :t has ho6e9er not repla&ed these gro6
lights due to it ha9ing a higher retail pri&e/ as mass produ&tion and ;ED 5its de9elop the produ&t 6ill
3e&ome &heaper.
;EDs ha9e also 3een used as a medium =ualit' 9oltage referen&e in ele&troni& &ir&uits. The for6ard
9oltage drop ?e.g./ a3out 1.0 K for a normal red ;ED@ &an 3e used instead of a (ener diode in lo6-
9oltage regulators. Red ;EDs ha9e the flattest I2V &ur9e a3o9e the 5neeA nitride-3ased ;EDs ha9e a
fairl' steep I2V &ur9e and are not useful in this appli&ation. Although ;ED for6ard 9oltage is mu&h
more &urrent-dependent than a good (ener/ (ener diodes are not 6idel' a9aila3le 3elo6 9oltages of
a3out K.
L%37t 5o#r.&5 :or ma.7%0& 9%5%o0 5(5t&m5
"a&hine 9ision s'stems often re=uire 3right and homogeneous illumination/ so features of interest are
easier to pro&ess. ;EDs are often used to this purpose/ and this field of appli&ation is li5el' to remain
one of the ma4or appli&ation areas until pri&e drops lo6 enough to ma5e signaling and illumination
appli&ations more 6idespread. <ar&ode s&anners are the most &ommon e8ample of ma&hine 9ision/
and man' ine8pensi9e ones used red ;EDs instead of lasers. ;EDs &onstitute a nearl' ideal light
sour&e for ma&hine 9ision s'stems for se9eral reasons:
The si$e of the illuminated field is usuall' &omparati9el' small and ma&hine 9ision s'stems are often
=uite e8pensi9e/ so the &ost of the light sour&e is usuall' a minor &on&ern. >o6e9er/ it might not 3e
eas' to repla&e a 3ro5en light sour&e pla&ed 6ithin &omple8 ma&hiner'/ and here the long ser9i&e life
of ;EDs is a 3enefit.
;ED elements tend to 3e small and &an 3e pla&ed 6ith high densit' o9er flat or e9en shaped
su3strates ?!)<s et&.@ so that 3right and homogeneous sour&es &an 3e designed 6hi&h dire&t light
from tightl' &ontrolled dire&tions on inspe&ted parts. This &an often 3e o3tained 6ith small/
ine8pensi9e lenses and diffusers/ helping to a&hie9e high light densities 6ith &ontrol o9er lighting
le9els and homogeneit'. ;ED sour&es &an 3e shaped in se9eral &onfigurations ?spot lights for
refle&ti9e illuminationA ring lights for &oa8ial illuminationA 3a&5 lights for &ontour illuminationA linear
assem3liesA flat/ large format panelsA dome sour&es for diffused/ omnidire&tional illumination@.
;EDs &an 3e easil' stro3ed ?in the mi&rose&ond range and 3elo6@ and s'n&hroni$ed 6ith imaging.
>igh po6er ;EDs are a9aila3le allo6ing 6ell lit images e9en 6ith 9er' short light pulses. This is often
used in order to o3tain &risp and sharp YstillZ images of =ui&5l' mo9ing parts.
;EDs &ome in se9eral different &olors and 6a9elengths/ easil' allo6ing to use the 3est &olor for ea&h
appli&ation/ 6here different &olor ma' pro9ide 3etter 9isi3ilit' of features of interest. >a9ing a pre&isel'
5no6n spe&trum allo6s tightl' mat&hed filters to 3e used to separate informati9e 3and6idth or to
redu&e distur3ing effe&t of am3ient light. ;EDs usuall' operate at &omparati9el' lo6 6or5ing
temperatures/ simplif'ing heat management and dissipation/ therefore allo6ing plasti& lenses/ filters
and diffusers to 3e used. 7aterproof units &an also easil' 3e designed/ allo6ing for use in harsh or
6et en9ironments ?food/ 3e9erage/ oil industries@.
CH*+T2= A
&CD

A 2%B#%' .r(5ta2 '%562a( ?L+D@ is a thin/ flat ele&troni& 9isual displa' that uses the light modulating
properties of li=uid &r'stals ?;)s@. ;)s do not emit light dire&tl'.
The' are used in a 6ide range of appli&ations in&luding: &omputer monitors/ tele9ision/ instrument
panels/ air&raft &o&5pit displa's/ signage/ et&. The' are &ommon in &onsumer de9i&es su&h as 9ideo
pla'ers/ gaming de9i&es/ &lo&5s/ 6at&hes/ &al&ulators/ and telephones. ;)Ds ha9e displa&ed &athode
ra' tu3e?)RT@ displa's in most appli&ations. The' are usuall' more &ompa&t/ light6eight/ porta3le/
and less e8pensi9e. The' are a9aila3le in a 6ider range of s&reen si$es than )RT and other flat panel
displa's.
;)Ds are more energ' effi&ient and offer safer disposal than )RTs. :ts lo6 ele&tri&al po6er
&onsumption ena3les it to 3e used in 3atter'-po6ered ele&troni& e=uipment. :t is an ele&troni&all'-
modulated opti&al de9i&e made up of an' num3er of pi8els filled 6ith li=uid &r'stals and arra'ed in
front of a light sour&e ?3a&5light@ or refle&tor to produ&e images in &olour or mono&hrome. The earliest
dis&o9er' leading to the de9elopment of ;)D te&hnolog'/ the dis&o9er' of li=uid &r'stals/ dates from
1888.
C1D
<' 2008/ 6orld6ide sales of tele9isions 6ith ;)D s&reens had surpassed the sale of )RT
units.
S6&.%:%.at%o05
:mportant fa&tors to &onsider 6hen e9aluating an ;)D monitor:
Resolution : The hori$ontal and 9erti&al s&reen si$e e8pressed in pi8els ?e.g./ 102,^068@.
Bnli5e )RT monitors/ ;)D monitors ha9e a nati9e-supported resolution for 3est displa' effe&t.
Dot pit&h : The distan&e 3et6een the &enters of t6o ad4a&ent pi8els. The smaller the dot pit&h
si$e/ the less granularit' is present/ resulting in a sharper image. Dot pit&h ma' 3e the same
3oth 9erti&all' and hori$ontall'/ or different ?less &ommon@.
Kie6a3le si$e: The si$e of an ;)D panel measured on the diagonal ?more spe&ifi&all' 5no6n
as a&ti9e displa' area@.
Response time : The minimum time ne&essar' to &hange a pi8elGs &olour or 3rightness.
Response time is also di9ided into rise and fall time. %or ;)D monitors/ this is measured in 3t3
?3la&5 to 3la&5@ or gtg ?gra' to gra'@. These different t'pes of measurements ma5e
&omparison diffi&ult.
C2D
:nput lag - a dela' 3et6een the moment monitor re&ei9es the image o9er displa' lin5 and the
moment the image is displa'ed. :nput lag is &aused 3' internal digital pro&essing su&h as
image s&aling/ noise redu&tion and details enhan&ement/ as 6ell as ad9an&ed te&hni=ues li5e
frame interpolation. :nput lag &an measure as high as -, frames ?in e8&ess of 60 ms for a
60p260i signal@. *ome monitors and TK sets feature a spe&ial Fgaming modeF 6hi&h disa3les
most internal pro&essing and sets the displa' to its nati9e resolution.
Refresh rate : The num3er of times per se&ond in 6hi&h the monitor dra6s the data it is 3eing
gi9en. *in&e a&ti9ated ;)D pi8els do not flash on2off 3et6een frames/ ;)D monitors e8hi3it no
refresh-indu&ed fli&5er/ no matter ho6 lo6 the refresh rate.
CD
>igh-end ;)D tele9isions no6
feature up to 2,0 >$ refresh rate/ 6hi&h allo6s ad9an&ed digital pro&essing to insert additional
interpolated frames to smooth up motion/ espe&iall' 6ith lo6er-framerate 2,p material li5e the
<lu-ra' dis&. >o6e9er/ su&h high refresh rates ma' not 3e supported 3' pi8el response times/
and additional pro&essing &an introdu&e &onsidera3le input lag.
"atri8 t'pe : A&ti9e T%T or !assi9e.
Kie6ing angle : ?&oll./ more spe&ifi&all' 5no6n as 9ie6ing dire&tion@.
)olour support: >o6 man' t'pes of &olours are supported ?&oll./ more spe&ifi&all' 5no6n as
&olour gamut@.
<rightness : The amount of light emitted from the displa' ?&oll./ more spe&ifi&all' 5no6n as
luminan&e@.
)ontrast ratio : The ratio of the intensit' of the 3rightest 3right to the dar5est dar5.
Aspe&t ratio : The ratio of the 6idth to the height ?for e8ample/ ,:/ .:,/ 16:+ or 16:10@.
:nput ports ?e.g./ DK:/ KEA/ ;KD*/ Displa'!ort/ or e9en *-Kideo and >D":@.
Eamma &orre&tio
:n &olour ;)Ds ea&h indi9idual pi8el is di9ided into three &ells/ or su3pi8els/ 6hi&h are &oloured red/
green/ and 3lue/ respe&ti9el'/ 3' additional filters ?pigment filters/ d'e filters and metal o8ide filters@.
Ea&h su3pi8el &an 3e &ontrolled independentl' to 'ield thousands or millions of possi3le &olours for
ea&h pi8el. )RT monitors emplo' a similar Gsu3pi8elG stru&tures 6ia phosphors/ although the ele&tron
3eam emplo'ed in )RTs do not hit e8a&t ()b5i*el(.
A general purpose alphanumeri& ;)D/ 6ith t6o lines of 16 &hara&ters.
;)Ds 6ith a small num3er of segments/ su&h as those used in digital 6at&hes and po&5et &al&ulators/
ha9e indi9idual ele&tri&al &onta&ts for ea&h segment. An e8ternal dedi&ated &ir&uit supplies an ele&tri&
&harge to &ontrol ea&h segment. This displa' stru&ture is un6ield' for more than a fe6 displa'
elements.
*mall mono&hrome displa's su&h as those found in personal organi$ers/ or older laptop s&reens ha9e
a passi9e-matri8 stru&ture emplo'ing super-t6isted nemati& ?*TN@ or dou3le-la'er *TN ?D*TN@
te&hnolog'Pthe latter of 6hi&h addresses a &olour-shifting pro3lem 6ith the formerPand &olour-*TN
?)*TN@P6herein &olour is added 3' using an internal filter. Ea&h ro6 or &olumn of the displa' has a
single ele&tri&al &ir&uit. The pi8els are addressed one at a time 3' ro6 and &olumn addresses. This
t'pe of displa' is &alled 5a((i6e:-atri* addre((ed 3e&ause the pi8el must retain its state 3et6een
refreshes 6ithout the 3enefit of a stead' ele&tri&al &harge. As the num3er of pi8els ?and/
&orrespondingl'/ &olumns and ro6s@ in&reases/ this t'pe of displa' 3e&omes less feasi3le. Ker' slo6
response times and poor &ontrast are t'pi&al of passi9e-matri8 addressed ;)Ds.
>igh-resolution &olour displa's su&h as modern ;)D &omputer monitors and tele9isions use an a&ti9e
matri8 stru&ture. A matri8 of thin-film transistors ?T%Ts@ is added to the polari$ing and &olour filters.
Ea&h pi8el has its o6n dedi&ated transistor/ allo6ing ea&h &olumn line to a&&ess one pi8el. 7hen a
ro6 line is a&ti9ated/ all of the &olumn lines are &onne&ted to a ro6 of pi8els and the &orre&t 9oltage is
dri9en onto all of the &olumn lines. The ro6 line is then dea&ti9ated and the ne8t ro6 line is a&ti9ated.
All of the ro6 lines are a&ti9ated in se=uen&e during a refresh operation. A&ti9e-matri8 addressed
displa's loo5 F3righterF and FsharperF than passi9e-matri8 addressed displa's of the same si$e/ and
generall' ha9e =ui&5er response times/ produ&ing mu&h 3etter images.
T1%5t&' 0&mat%. <TN=
*ee also: t6isted nemati& field effe&t
T6isted nemati& displa's &ontain li=uid &r'stal elements 6hi&h t6ist and unt6ist at 9ar'ing degrees to
allo6 light to pass through. 7hen no 9oltage is applied to a TN li=uid &r'stal &ell/ the light is polari$ed
to pass through the &ell. :n proportion to the 9oltage applied/ the ;) &ells t6ist up to +0 degrees
&hanging the polari$ation and 3lo&5ing the lightGs path. <' properl' ad4usting the le9el of the 9oltage
almost an' gre' le9el or transmission &an 3e a&hie9ed.
)* I0;62a0& 51%t.7%03 <IPS=
:n-plane s6it&hing is an ;)D te&hnolog' 6hi&h aligns the li=uid &r'stal &ells in a hori$ontal dire&tion. :n
this method/ the ele&tri&al field is applied through ea&h end of the &r'stal/ 3ut this re=uires t6o
transistors for ea&h pi8el instead of the single transistor needed for a standard thin-film transistor
?T%T@ displa'. 7ith older 9ersions of :!*/ 3efore ;E Enhan&ed :!* 6as introdu&ed in 200+/ the
additional transistor resulted in 3lo&5ing more transmission area/ thus re=uiring a 3righter 3a&5light/
6hi&h &onsumed more po6er/ and made this t'pe of displa' less desira3le for note3oo5 &omputers.
This te&hnolog' &an 3e found in the Apple i"a&/ i!ad/ and i!hone ,/ as 6ell as the >e6lett-!a&5ard
Elite<oo5 80,06.
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