Scotty: “I noticed you're still working with polymers.”
Dr. Nichols: “Still?... What else would I be working with?”
Scotty: “Aye... What else indeed.”
– Star Trek IV-The Voyage Home

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University in Korea has uncovered a way to force two excited-state intermolecular proton transfer materials into a single molecule. Sounds like the recipe for “transparent aluminum”, but it’s not. The technology is the basis for a white LED with the same warm glow as incandescent bulbs.

At its most basic, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) is a semiconductor device used to convert electricity into light. LED lighting has been around since the 1960s. It was originally used as a replacement for incandescent indicators and displays, first in expensive equipment such as laboratory and test equipment, then later in appliances such as TVs, radios, telephones, calculators, and watches. Just recently LEDs have begun to appear as a viable option in the residential and commercial markets for space lighting.

This application in particular has been the most exciting for consumers and suppliers alike, due to the fact that LEDs boast incredible efficiency over mainstream incandescent light solutions. For example, LED bulbs are extremely energy efficient, with new products that can emit up to 240 lumens per watt, while a traditional incandescent bulb loses over 98 percent of its total energy through the heat it produces. Also, a standard 40 W incandescent bulb has an expected lifespan of 1,000 hours, while an LED can continue to operate with reduced efficiency for more than 50,000 hours, which is 50 times longer than the incandescent bulb.

Traditionally, the issue with implementing mainstream LED lighting has been upfront cost, as the current manufacturing process of white LEDs is too complex...(read more)