How LEDs and OLEDs Work
It’s easy to cruise through our tech-dependent world without appreciating why one device is superior to another. As a consumer, you just look for items that make your life easier and more fun. Why should you switch to LEDs and OLEDs? Why not just stick with the old, reliable incandescent bulbs developed by Edison?
In order to understand the answers to these questions, you need to know a few facts. First, lighting costs account for 20% of American energy costs. Moreover, much of this energy is lost to heat. When we turn on a light, an electrical current is sent into a wire or filament inside the bulb. This wire gets so hot that it begins to glow. Voila, we can see! Unfortunately, to get hot enough to create light, the wire releases a lot of energy as heat, as any actor can tell you. A fully-lit stage can feel like a sauna.
LEDs and OLEDs produce light much more efficiently because they create light in a completely different way. Inside the each LED is a diode, where current pushes electrons through a special semicondictor. The negatively charged electrons are attracted to positively charged particles nearby. When the electrons hook up with the positively charged particles, they lose energy, which is released as light. As a result, LEDs do not get hot– they don’t lose energy to heat. At a basic level, this is why LEDs and OLEDs are more efficient than traditonal bulbs.
OLEDs differ from LEDs because their semiconductors are organic, rather than metalic. This allows designers to place OLEDs on more flexible materials. Remember the walls of television Ray Bradbury described in Farenheight 451? Well, OLEDs might make that sci-fi dream a reality.
Because LEDs are more efficient at a sub-atomic level, they are much more cost-effective than incandescent bulbs. A higher initial investment is justified because LED lights last much longer and cost less to operate on a day to day basis. One easy way to bring this space-age technology into your home is to switch to an LED desk lamp, like the Mars Moppet shown at right. The Mars Moppet’s magnetic or suction cup feet will allow you to place LED light exactly where you need it.
Curious about the history of LED lights? Follow the link.
Top photo: a carbon filament light bulb, by Rob Pongsajapan.
