Light Emitting Diodes

What are they made of?

A LEDs internal components are made up of 3 layers, the P-layer, N-layer,
and P-N layer with a base typically made of a sapphire crystal. The P layer is
called that because it has a positive charge. How it becomes positive is by
the small gaps that are on this layer, this causes the electrons to fall down
through the P-N layer then to the N-Layer.
This
N-layer has a negative charge due to
the
P-N layer having its own electric field
which pushes the electrons towards
the N-Layer and away from the Ptype Layer. All of these electrical
components are housed in a plastic shell,
this shell not only protects the fragile
pieces but reflects the light out
instead of back into the LED itself.
(Figure 1)

How is the light made?

All diodes actually create light but the LED is specifically designed for the
process of transferring the electric energy to light energy. The light you see
coming out of the LED are actually photons which have been created by a
transfer of electrical energy from one layer to the next, or the movement of
electrons from one layer to another. The distance between the P-N Junction
and the N-type layer will determine the color as well as what chemicals are
on each layer. This gap between the two
layers and the various chemicals that are
used give the LED its ability to replicate
almost any
color. When current is put through a
circuit
with an LED in it, it creates a push on
those electrons that are stored in
the
N-type layer causing them to be moved
through the P-N junction to the P-type layer with
the holes in it. These holes created
in the P-type layer are to let the light
that is created by the electrons
movement escape and be directed out by the plastic casing.
(Figure 2)

Fig 1.) "[HOW IT WORKS]. Union of Concerned Scientists. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
Fig 2.) How Light Emitting Diodes Work." HowStuffWorks. 2002. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
Fig 3.) "OLED Info - Flexible OLEDs." OLED Info - Flexible OLEDs. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
Hanson, Gregory, and Susan Barwick. WiseGeek. Conjecture. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
"LED Makers Unveil Latest Advances at L B." - LEDs. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.

Practicality Today
LEDs are common place today but 50 years ago they were only used in
industrial manufacturing. What really helped the LED become popular is the
wattage used per lumen, in a 5mm red LED for example; it takes only 1w to
get 30-80 lumens. This is a huge advantage to the normal incandescent bulb
taking 60w for only 800 lumens of light, a fraction of the power Incandescent
can produce with the same power. Technology advances have made the LED
more consumer friendly, they are becoming more and more popular in
society. Everything from the street lights on the roads to smartphones in our
pockets have LEDs inside them.

Future of LEDs
Discoveries are being made everyday by independent companies to large
corporations, all of them working to improve upon the LED or replace it. A
technology that has been recently developed is something called an OLED
which is essentially an organic light emitting diode. It gets its name from the
thin film of organic material that is
electroluminescent or reacts to
electrical current by emitting light.
These OLEDs are preferred because
of how flexible they can be, they
use even less wattage than a
regular LED, and they can be
produced for relatively cheap
(Figure 3). A company named
Lexedis is currently developing what
they call XEDs which are the
smallest LEDs in the world currently
and these create 60 lumens per 700mA. This makes the possible applications
of XEDs even greater, making it possible to construct thinner, smaller, and
(Figure 3)
more energy efficient
devices.

Fig 1.) "[HOW IT WORKS]. Union of Concerned Scientists. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
Fig 2.) How Light Emitting Diodes Work." HowStuffWorks. 2002. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
Fig 3.) "OLED Info - Flexible OLEDs." OLED Info - Flexible OLEDs. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
Hanson, Gregory, and Susan Barwick. WiseGeek. Conjecture. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.
"LED Makers Unveil Latest Advances at L B." - LEDs. Web. 26 Feb. 2016.