QD Vision, developer of nanotechnology-based products for lighting and displays, yesterday announced it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract by the U.S. Army as part of its Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD). Combined with new, additional funds for a Phase I option period, the award totals $775,000.

Progressive Cooling Solutions is taking a Russian technology for keeping satellite electronics cool and bringing it down to earth to cool LEDs. The US-based company has raised $1.5 million in seed funding from Siemens Technology-to-Business to mesh two technologies – micro loop heat pipes developed by Russian scientists, and a "silicon wick”, which is a silicon membrane with pores about 5 microns wide and 500 microns deep, developed by company founder and CTO Ahmed Shuja while at the University of Cincinnati.

The Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University and Universal Display Corp. recently announced a breakthrough in advancing displays with organic light-emitting diodes.

Wavien, Inc., a U.S.-based lighting provider, recently announced the introduction of its highly efficient "Premien" white LED technology for front projector applications. The output efficiency of the patented Premien technology is up to two times higher than competing LED technologies, with no reduction in lifetime.

Royal Philips Electronics will cooperate with BVB Substrates, a horticultural supplier based in the Netherlands, to develop LED lighting-based applications for greenhouse-based flower and vegetable cultivation. The two companies have signed a memorandum-of-understanding for combining their respective strengths in the development.

Scientists of the West Virginia University Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, have been developing the next generation of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting that will be much more efficient than anything now on the commercial market. The study was the subject of an initial grant based on IC INOVA’s LED design and funding. A recent memorandum of understanding between the WVU Research Corporation and IC INOVA, a Japanese company, demonstrates their support in the progress of the WVU LED research.

The Flexible Display Center (FDC) at Arizona State University and Universal Display Corporation yesterday introduced the first a-Si:H active matrix flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display to be manufactured directly on DuPont Teijin's polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate.

Solomon Systech Ltd, a semiconductor company providing display IC products and system solutions based in Hong Kong, has announced the SSD1306, an OLED driver designed for saving total system cost. With only three capacitors and a built-in charge pump, the device can support the OLED module at high performance using a low voltage supply of 3.3V to 4.2V.

Seiko Epson Corporation today announced it has established inkjet technology that enables the uniform deposition of organic material in the production of large-screen organic light-emitting diode (OLED) televisions. The new technology is said to represent a major step toward the realization of 37-inch and larger full-HD OLED TVs by resolving the uneven layering that had previously been an issue with the inkjet method.

Obducat’s new lithography system is ready to be launched. The system, named Sindre 400, is the world’s first fully automated system for high volume manufacturing of LEDs. Sindre 400 is a vital contribution to the development within CleanTech, since, thanks to greatly increased energy and material efficiency, it reduces the use of natural resources.

After introducing aluminum casing (CLG family) and fully enclosed plastic casing (PLN, ELN, LP family) LED power supplies, MEAN WELL launched another new product category, open frame type – PLP family, for the “low cost” and “built-in” installation of LED lighting related applications. PLP-30/60 series are 30W/60W switching power supplies with 90~264VAC universal input range.

Scientists have developed a method to make lettuce darker and healthier using ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Steven Britz of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and his colleagues used low-power LEDs that exposed lettuce to ultraviolet B (UVB) light for 43 hours. The lettuce was noticeably darker than plants not exposed to the UVB. They have not quantified this effect, but the lettuce darkening increased with the intensity of the light. Darker lettuce, like spinach, is known to be more nutrient dense than its lighter counterparts, such as iceberg.

Researchers of the University of Tokyo in Japan have created a flexible organic electroluminescent display (OLED display) that can be stretched and folded like rubber without influencing the image quality or damaging the display.

Researchers at the Technical University of Dresden and Novaled AG have collaborated to create a 90 lm/W OLED luminaire. The OLED has a brightness of 1,000 cd/m2 according to the researchers. The OLED light engine with a 3-D light extraction technology reportedly achieved an efficacy of 124 lm/W.

NeoPac Opto launches NeoPac Universal Platform (NUP) and Standard Solid-State Light Sources for accelerating adoption of LEDs for illumination applications

Korean scientists announced Monday they have developed a new kind of highly efficient light emitting diode (LED) that can help develop next-generation displays and computer chips. The research team of Seoul National University said they have perfected a new production method that can produce high-quality green quantum dot LEDs with superior brightness and purity characteristics that are easier to make than existing products. The development was published in the latest edition of "Advanced Materials," and was featured in the April 22 issue of "Asia Materials."

Lumitex, Inc. announces the establishment of its West Coast R&D Center in Irvine, California, and Asian manufacturing center in Taipei, Taiwan to help develop, apply and produce illumination solutions using patented LED and fiber optic technologies for electronics applications on the West Coast and in Asia.

Intematix Corp., a innovator in phosphors, LED components and solid state lighting modules today announced the release of a new series of high-efficiency power LEDs.  The new Cetus “E-series” products boast efficacies of up to 100 lumens per watt (lm/w) for the cool white versions, and 97 lm/w for warm white, and will facilitate wider adoption of LEDs in general and outdoor lighting.

The Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics introduced Thursday the world’s first OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes) -based interactive lighting concepts during the Euroluce International Lighting Fair in Milan. Interactive in use, the concepts boast ultra flat shapes, soft light-effects and design possibilities never before seen in lighting products, making lighting an experience in itself rather than mere illumination.

Rubicon Technology Inc., a LED sapphire substrate provider, claimed to have successfully grown what it believes to be the world’s largest sapphire crystal (or boule) which weighs 200 kg.

At an exhibition held last week in Tokyo, the Japanese company Kaga Components Co Ltd exhibited a LED lighting power supply apparatus in which the electrolytic capacitor has been removed to get a lifetime extended to more than 100,000 hours as well as a smaller size.

In response to the latest industry chromaticity standard for solid-state lighting, Edison Opto has introduced the SSL bin groups in accordance to the 8 ranges defined by ANSI C78.377. In this rapid industry, the quality and efficiency of LED applications upgrade from time to time.To qualified and unified all products of LED lightings, many industry standards, including ENERGY STAR, has adopted the ANSI C78.377 bin group guideline to help consumers defined it.  

AGFA-Gevaert NV, IMEC of Belgium, and Holst Centre, Philips Research and TNO of the Netherlands have prototyped a flexible OLED lighting panel in which highly-conductive transparent resin electrodes are used in place of ITO (indium tin oxide).  

A group of scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has recently developed a new type of LED made from plastic like organic materials, which is an important step towards the goal of improving the efficiency of light bulbs. This cheap and efficient LED is designed with a simplified "tandem" structure, and can produce twice as much light as a normal LED——including the white light desired for home and office lighting.

Energy Focus, a fiber-optic and LED lighting provider, said Tuesday it would develop LEDs for the U.S. Army to replace rockets flares which are used to provide infrared light to soldiers wearing night vision goggles on the battlefield.

A deep UV LED using diamond semiconductor has been developed by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology of Japan (AIST), with the details of the development planned to be disclosed at the 56th Spring Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics taking place from March 30.

Lime Energy Company and Nexxus Lighting, Inc. have recently announced their cooperation to install the new Array™ Lighting LED of Nexxus in numerous projects of Lime Energy to provide customers with energy-saving and environmental-friendly products.

A DOE researcher has achieved a big progress in his research on organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) by partly solving the problem of weak blue diode in white OLED lights.

Everlight signed a non-exclusive cross-license agreement with OSRAM GmbH (“OSRAM”), providing the companies (including wholly-owned affiliates) with access in certain areas to each other’s patented LED technology.

LED streetlights are to illuminate the dark in a most crime-ridden block in the city of San Francisco. And the Mayor Gavin Newsom will visit the section today to test the energy-saving light source by lighting four street lights using his iPhone. LED street lights consume much less power than traditional streetlights. And the lights with computer chips are networked over power lines thus can be shut off when no one is around. Besides, LED lights require far less maintenance and are tough to break. But these are not the most important for this weirdest section in the city.