November 13, 2008

Total Light Measurement Seminar 2008

Aston Science Park and the Photonics Cluster (UK) have teamed up with Pro-Lite to organise its annual one day technical seminar covering the practicalities of measuring light sources and the optical properties of materials. This year's "Total Light Measurement" seminar is aimed at scientists and engineers who wish to learn how to measure LEDs, lamps, lasers, automotive lighting, displays, signs, luminaires and solid state lighting.

December 8, 2008

Practical Light and Color Management

The course majors on how to get the right results (and how to avoid common mistakes) when measuring the output of LEDs and other light sources.

February 3-5, 2009 . San Francisco, CA

Transformations in Lighting

2009 DOE Solid-State Lighting R&D Workshop
Who Should Attend: Lighting industry leaders, fixture manufacturers, product development managers, researchers, technology planners, academic researchers, trade associations, lighting designers, energy efficiency organizations and utilities.

2009 Highlights:
• What customers want from LEDs
• What we're learning through demonstrations
• Defining and recognizing quality
• Recognition for top R&D performers
• The latest technology advances

This course provides a clear explanation of the operating principles and applications of diode lasers, LEDs, and detectors, and which devices are commercially available. Following a brief review of semiconductors, the mechanisms of photon generation and detection are discussed. The semiconductors used for visible and IR devices, quantum well, surface emitting, Bragg reflector, and single mode lasers, are described. Distributed feedback, lasers, laser noise and linewidth, PIN and APD detectors, superlattice and Schottky detectors, CCDs and heterodyne detection are also covered.

The development of blue and UV InGaN light emitting diodes is being complemented by a parallel exploration of new phosphor material systems for use with these new diode technologies. Currently, two approaches are being investigated: the use of a blue LED phosphor pump which combines with the phosphor emission to give a white spectrum, and secondly the use of a tri-color red, green and blue phosphor set, which are pumped in the near-UV, between 380-406 nm. For both approaches it is necessary to develop highly efficient and long-lived phosphor materials that are well matched to the excitation conditions of the diode, and whose spectral emission properties produce a high color rendition index (>95).

This course, therefore, complements the Solid State Lighting I & II courses (SC490 & SC770), by providing an in depth review of the recent developments in phosphors for SSL. Examples of excitation and emission spectra will be given for the important material systems. The scope is to provide a state-of-the-art review of Solid State Lighting Phosphors from both the perspective of the solid state device engineer and the lighting designer.

Light Emitting Diodes
Course Level: Intermediate
Instructor: E. Fred Schubert, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (United States)

This course presents the history, operating principles, fabrication processes, and applications of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with particular emphasis on solid-state lighting applications. The course provides an overview of LED fundamentals, design, and fabrication techniques. Furthermore, the fundamentals of solid-state lighting are discussed, including human factors, efficacy, efficiency, and color rendering properties of novel light sources. Although the course participants do not need to be specialists in optoelectronic device physics, familiarity with semiconductors is expected.

Quantum Dot LEDs and Laser Diodes
Course Level: Intermediate
Instructor: Peter Blood, Cardiff Univ. (United Kingdom)

Quantum dots are enabling significant advances to be made in the characteristics of light emitting diodes and laser diodes, for example ultra-low threshold current lasers, ultra-short pulse generation, and high performance super-luminescent LEDs. These advances derive from distinctive features of quantum dot structures.

This course provides attendees with an introduction to the basic principles of operation of quantum dot lasers and LEDs, and gives a survey of their current performance characteristics. The course includes a description of typical device structures and material systems, and provides an account of optical gain and recombination processes in dots, comparing and contrasting their properties with those of quantum well systems. A survey of the current status of quantum dot emitters is given and it is shown how their distinctive performance features derive from their basic properties. Key application areas are discussed and key topics for continuing research identified.

Solid State Lighting II
Course Level: Advanced
Instructor: Ian T. Ferguson, Georgia Institute of Technology (United States)

The course builds on its sister course, Solid State Lighting I (SC490) by providing more depth in many of the same technical areas such as in understanding the illumination characteristics of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and in illumination. While the prior course took a phenomenological approach in developing an understanding of SSL (and assumed that the student has minimal technical background or expertise in the area), this course develops a more quantitatively rigorous approach to understanding SSL in clearly defined technical metrics.

The intent of this course is to provide a state-of-the-art review of Solid State Lighting technology from both the perspective of the solid state device engineer and the lighting designer. Additional coverage will be provided in phosphor technology and the operational characteristics of organic LEDs (OLEDs) that was not covered in Solid State Lighting I.