Today, such a bulb is no longer a surprise to anyone – they are found in the interiors of urban apartments and suburban homes. It is difficult to imagine that the popularity of LEDs preceded more than half a century of trial and error, years of development.
Modern LED lamp – a complex electronic semiconductor device that emits light when passing through it current. Voltage to the diodes is supplied from a miniature control board. Simply put, diodes begin to glow when current passes through the semiconductor crystals, producing photons – particles that carry light.
The standard incandescent light bulb has a different principle of operation – the glow is created by a spiral heated to an ultra-high temperature. These light sources were inefficient because they used 97% of their energy for heat, and only 3% was converted into light. LED lamps do not have such serious energy losses – the efficiency of diodes is from 10 to 30%, and every year this figure is improving.
The first discovery associated with modern LED lamps, was made back in 1907, an English scientist Henry Round. He conducted experiments with carbide crystals. Passing through them an electric current, he noticed that the substance emits a faint yellow light. Moreover, the scientist noticed an interesting fact: the light became brighter, depending on the change in the strength of the voltage. In addition, when acting on different crystals and points, the color of the light flux changed – became green, orange or blue. However, these experiments were not continued, because no one was interested in them.
Russian scientist-experimenter Oleg Vladimirovich Losev, in 1923, made a similar discovery. He conducted experiments with diodes used in radio receivers, and found: they glow blue light if you pass a voltage through them. The reason for this phenomenon was unclear, and the glow was so weak that the discovery was ignored.
Nevertheless, Oleg Losev for several years, conducted experiments with diodes, studied how much the spectrum of glow depends on the strength of the electric current. Losev even managed to patent the results of his research, under the name “light relay”. The study of the glow of carbide crystals soon stalled, as scientists did not see the effectiveness of this direction.
Another round of the diode story was launched by a scientist from the United States, Rubin Braunstein, who made a new discovery in 1955. He established: if you pass voltage through diodes based on gallium arsenide, they begin to emit infrared rays. However, this invention was patented six years later by Bob Beard and Harry Pitman.
The father of LEDs is considered to be Nick Holonyak, who, together with Robert Hall, created the first prototypes, as well as a laser with a visible beam, using a diode of the red spectrum. In 1972, George Craford, who previously worked for Holonyak, discovered the yellow LED, increased the brightness of the luminescence of red and yellow-red diodes.
The last stage in the development of LED light sources was marked by Japanese scientists Isama Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano. In the late 80s, joint efforts, they developed blue LEDs, using for this basis of gallium nitride. Soon Japanese engineer Shuji Nakamura created an innovative technology for growing LEDs of blue and green colors. The scientist used yellow-green phosphors, with a base of alumino-ittrium garnets. Curiously, the company he worked for, Nichia Chemical Industries, paid the hard-working Shuji a bonus of $2,000. He felt that this was not enough and through the court received the equivalent of 7 million US dollars. In 2014, Shuji Nakamura, as well as Hiroshi Amano and Isama Akasaki, received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of blue LEDs. Actually, this invention of Japanese scientists started the era of mass production of LED lamps.
Lamps based on diodes are good for everything – energy efficient, economical, however, many users are not satisfied with their appearance. Therefore, in 2008, a revolutionary filament lamp was created – visually it is indistinguishable from a regular light bulb. However, the function of the incandescent spiral in it performs filament LEDs. While maintaining all the parameters of traditional LED lamps, filament lamps (FSL) attract classic design, perfectly fit into the retro style, classic interiors.
Learn more about LED lamps of any design, brightness and color can be found on our website. The widest range of LED equipment for every taste, as well as controllers, infrared lamps, smart remote controls, chargers will always be considered here.
