Hm—how truly green ARE those green LED’s?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Computers, phones, lamps – our world runs on LEDs! But so much electricity! And to make colors, red, blue, and green lights have to be combined, via an energy-sapping color filter.
D.J. Lee and Cam Bayram from the University of Illinois to the rescue.
Previous green LEDs were made using a metal alloy with a six-sided crystal structure. A simpler cube could make brighter, cheaper light. But it’s difficult to grow without flaws. UNLESS you use a magical compound called cubic gallium-nitride for the base. The result is nearly flawless—AND it takes thirty percent less of an expensive ingredient to make!
Researchers think this could make green LEDs up to ten TIMES more efficient. Or in Kermit the Frog talk? That much easier to be green.
Reference: Lee, J., & Bayram, C. (2024). Green-emitting cubic GaN/In0.16Ga0.84N/GaN quantum well with 32% internal quantum efficiency at room temperature. Applied Physics Letters, 124(1). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0179477