[cdn-nucl-l] FW: Sandia & the solid-state revolution

["Adam McLean" <adam.mclean@utoronto.ca>]

Posted on the Sandia National Laboratory news list on April 16, 2002 and
at http://www.sandia.gov.
Some amazing technology to reduce energy consumption coming about from
Sandia.

Adam

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2002

Quiet revolution may change way we light our world
Sandia joins revolution in solid-state lighting

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A revolution is quietly occurring that promises to
change the way we light our homes, offices, and world. Sandia National
Laboratories is among the research entities around the country at the
forefront of the revolution. Some 25 Sandia researchers are working on
an project that will establish the fundamental science and technology
base to replace the country's primary lighting source, incandescent
bulbs and fluorescent tubes, with semiconductor light-emitting diodes
(LEDs) - solid state lighting. 
Sandia Senior Scientist James Gee, together with department managers
Jerry Simmons and Bob Biefeld, head up the project. "In some ways the
revolution in lighting can be compared to the revolution in electronics
that began 50 years ago and is only now reaching maturity," Gee says.
"Just as for electronics, glass bulbs and vacuum tubes are giving way to
semiconductors. And as in the microelectronics revolution, many of the
possible applications for solid-state lighting will occur in ways that
have not yet been envisioned." LEDs are already found in toys,
electronics, traffic lights, automobile signals, and large outdoor
displays - devices that require durability, compactness, and cool
operation. In some applications they also enable significant cost
savings due to their lower consumption of energy: LED-based red traffic
lights, for example, consume one-tenth the energy of their incandescent
counterparts, enabling them to pay for themselves in as little as one
year.  
As LED technology matures, revolution leaders expect solid-state
lighting to also rapidly outdistance conventional lighting sources in
both performance and cost. "This new white light source could change the
way we live, and the way we consume energy," says Simmons, who manages
the project. "LEDs could be 10 times more efficient than incandescent
bulbs and two times more efficient than fluorescents. Clearly, LEDs'
replacement of conventional light sources would significantly reduce
worldwide energy consumption." LEDs were first demonstrated in 1962 by
General Electric. The first products were introduced in 1968 - indicator
lamps by Monsanto and an electronic display by Hewlett-Packard. However,
LEDs were limited to small-signal applications until 1985 when LED power
was increased, resulting in new applications. In 1993 researchers at
several universities in the US and Japan developed a fairly efficient
blue light LED based on gallium nitride. Efficiency improvements
followed quickly. Today, energy-efficient LEDs are available from red to
green to blue light, making it possible to generate white light for
illumination. Lighting is presently responsible for 20 percent of
electricity consumption. Researchers believe that the development and
adoption of solid-state lighting technology could reduce the nation's
electrical consumption by 10 percent. However, Gee says, LED-based light
sources are expensive - more than two orders of magnitude more expensive
than commercial incandescent light bulbs
- and will not be practical until their costs are reduced and efficiency
is further increased.  As part of the LEDsproject, some 25 Sandia
researchers are exploring ways to do exactly that - make LEDs more
efficient and less costly. They are working on the fundamental science
and technology challenges where Sandia has unique capabilities. Among
those challenges are: 
 * Developing an improved understanding of the physics of the gallium
nitride-based materials that are the base materials of the LEDs.
* Improving optoelectronic devices and materials for abundant photon
generation and high light extraction efficiency.
* Improving wavelength conversion and color mixing technologies for
generation of white light.
* Improving packaging technologies for high-power LEDs.  
 Numerous industrial companies, as well as universities, are working to
develop technologies for solid state lighting. However, Biefeld says,
"in many respects Sandia is unique, due to our extensive capabilities in
semiconductor growth and processing, reactor modeling, and experimental
and theoretical materials physics, all located at a single institution."
"These are exciting challenges that will engage our scientists over the
next several years," Gee says. "Our work will position Sandia to become
a leading developer of the science and technology for this revolution in
lighting." Sandia is a multi-program national Department of Energy
laboratory operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. With
about 7,500 employees and facilities in Albuquerque, N.M. and Livermore,
Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security,
energy, environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia
is one of 20 U.S. Department of Energy research labs throughout the
nation. # # #
Sandia Media Relations Contact: 	 Chris Burroughs, (505)
844-0948,
coburro@sandia.gov <mailto:coburro@sandia.gov>
Sandia Technical Contact: 		James Gee, (505) 844-7812,
jmgee@sandia.gov <mailto:jmgee@sandia.gov>

Sandia National Laboratories' World Wide Web home page is located at
http://www.sandia.gov. Sandia news releases, news tips, science photo
gallery, and periodicals can be found at the News and Events button.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2002

Quiet revolution may change way we light our world
Sandia joins revolution in solid-state lighting

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A revolution is quietly occurring that promises to
change the way we light our homes, offices, and world. Sandia National
Laboratories is among the research entities around the country at the
forefront of the revolution.
Some 25 Sandia researchers are working on an project that will establish the
fundamental science and technology base to replace the country's primary
lighting source, incandescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes, with
semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs) - solid state lighting. 
Sandia Senior Scientist James Gee, together with department managers Jerry
Simmons and Bob Biefeld, head up the project.
"In some ways the revolution in lighting can be compared to the revolution
in electronics that began 50 years ago and is only now reaching maturity,"
Gee says. "Just as for electronics, glass bulbs and vacuum tubes are giving
way to semiconductors. And as in the microelectronics revolution, many of
the possible applications for solid-state lighting will occur in ways that
have not yet been envisioned."
LEDs are already found in toys, electronics, traffic lights, automobile
signals, and large outdoor displays - devices that require durability,
compactness, and cool operation. In some applications they also enable
significant cost savings due to their lower consumption of energy:
LED-based red traffic lights, for example, consume one-tenth the energy of
their incandescent counterparts, enabling them to pay for themselves in as
little as one year.  
As LED technology matures, revolution leaders expect solid-state lighting to
also rapidly outdistance conventional lighting sources in both performance
and cost.
"This new white light source could change the way we live, and the way we
consume energy," says Simmons, who manages the project. "LEDs could be 10
times more efficient than incandescent bulbs and two times more efficient
than fluorescents. Clearly, LEDs' replacement of conventional light sources
would significantly reduce worldwide energy consumption."
LEDs were first demonstrated in 1962 by General Electric. The first products
were introduced in 1968 - indicator lamps by Monsanto and an electronic
display by Hewlett-Packard. However, LEDs were limited to small-signal
applications until 1985 when LED power was increased, resulting in new
applications. In 1993 researchers at several universities in the US and
Japan developed a fairly efficient blue light LED based on gallium nitride.
Efficiency improvements followed quickly. Today, energy-efficient LEDs are
available from red to green to blue light, making it possible to generate
white light for illumination.
Lighting is presently responsible for 20 percent of electricity consumption.
Researchers believe that the development and adoption of solid-state
lighting technology could reduce the nation's electrical consumption by 10
percent.
However, Gee says, LED-based light sources are expensive - more than two
orders of magnitude more expensive than commercial incandescent light bulbs
- and will not be practical until their costs are reduced and efficiency is
further increased.
 As part of the LEDsproject, some 25 Sandia researchers are exploring ways
to do exactly that - make LEDs more efficient and less costly. They are
working on the fundamental science and technology challenges where Sandia
has unique capabilities. Among those challenges are: 
 * Developing an improved understanding of the physics of the gallium
nitride-based materials that are the base materials of the LEDs.
* Improving optoelectronic devices and materials for abundant photon
generation and high light extraction efficiency.
* Improving wavelength conversion and color mixing technologies for
generation of white light.
* Improving packaging technologies for high-power LEDs.  
 Numerous industrial companies, as well as universities, are working to
develop technologies for solid state lighting. However, Biefeld says, "in
many respects Sandia is unique, due to our extensive capabilities in
semiconductor growth and processing, reactor modeling, and experimental and
theoretical materials physics, all located at a single institution."
"These are exciting challenges that will engage our scientists over the next
several years," Gee says. "Our work will position Sandia to become a leading
developer of the science and technology for this revolution in lighting."
Sandia is a multi-program national Department of Energy laboratory operated
by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. With about 7,500 employees
and facilities in Albuquerque, N.M. and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major
R&D responsibilities in national security, energy, environmental
technologies and economic competitiveness. Sandia is one of 20 U.S.
Department of Energy research labs throughout the nation.
# # #
Sandia Media Relations Contact: 	 Chris Burroughs, (505) 844-0948,
coburro@sandia.gov <mailto:coburro@sandia.gov>
Sandia Technical Contact: 		James Gee, (505) 844-7812,
jmgee@sandia.gov <mailto:jmgee@sandia.gov>

Sandia National Laboratories' World Wide Web home page is located at
http://www.sandia.gov.
Sandia news releases, news tips, science photo gallery, and periodicals can
be found at the News and Events button.