I just read an article at optics.org about micro-pixellated LEDs, or MicroLEDs - these LEDs arrayed elements, with thousands or even tens of thousands of sources covering a surface.  The University of Strathclyde’s Institute of Photonics in the UK is at the edge of this technology right now, and leading.  They’ve developed, according to the article, the highest performance microLED arrays ever.

From the article:

“We have developed a range of microLEDs in various formats, based on the light-emitting capabilities of gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor materials,” explained Simon Andrews, business development manager of the Institute of Photonics. “This allows us to generate what is in essence a programmable pattern of light.”

Right now, the spectral output on these microLED arrays is pretty narrow, with UV, blue, and green arrays being the most created.  Andrews also says in the article that red light is possible, but needs to start with a different material system.  Again, from the article:

“We are working on ways to vary the wavelengths of light that can be emitted by the arrays,” explained Andrews. “Our chemistry colleagues at Strathclyde, led by Richard Pethrick, have developed UV transmissive polymers, which increase the transmission of UV light well below 300 nm and down towards 200 nm, to match the wavelengths possible from the GaN alloys. We have blended in different light-emitting polymers to colour-convert UV light into red, green or blue light. In addition, we have blended in quantum dots that can colour-convert UV light into practically any colour that you wish, depending on the size of the dot. As quantum dot technology is becoming easier to source all of the time, this is a significant development.”

Researches at the Institute are also working on different shapes as well - like this micro stripe.

Exciting!  Go read the article, it’s pretty lengthy, and I couldn’t possibly have done it justice here.

This is called a Vindicator, and it’s a fiber-optic based laser “module, processor, control system interface, and remote lens assembly,” to quote the product page.  Oh Hell.  Catch The Wind, Inc, I am going to pretty much copy the text from the product page - this is an awesome product.  I hope you don’t mind.  People should buy these so that wind power shows people how awesome green energy will be.  From the product page:

The Vindicator™ fiber optic laser wind sensing system is capable of measuring real-time horizontal and vertical wind speed and direction data at varying ranges ahead of the sensor location. The sensor design is based on state-of-the-art fiber optic laser technology developed and patented at Optical Air Data Systems LLC.

The Vindicator™ system is comprised of a fiber optic based laser module, processor, control system interface, and a remote lens assembly. The laser module and processor are housed in a separate assembly that may be located either within the wind turbine nacelle, or with the remote lens assembly.

Using concepts of Doppler radar, with light as the medium of detection, the Vindicator™ system quickly senses air particle movement. The system processor analyzes the air particle movement producing speed and direction data for wind field determination. The first production variant of the Vindicator™ system will sense the wind out to 300 meters; as industry learns how to utilize and integrate this new technology into various applications, longer ranges can be incorporated.

How does the Vindicator™ laser wind sensor work?

The Vindicator™ wind sensing system works by integrating with a wind turbine’s control system, or electronic brain. The system’s fiber optic lasers sense the wind that is approaching the wind turbine at a range of 300 meters and report this information to the control system in sufficient time to adjust and orient the turbine. Utilizing control algorithms, the control system will decide how to best exploit the wind that is approaching the turbine and command internal systems to either change blade pitch and/or re-orient the entire nacelle in an effort to maintain efficiency, reduce the effects of wind shear and gusts, or maintain a constant blade speed. Without the Vindicator™ laser wind sensor, wind turbines will continue to be out of phase with changes in the prevailing wind.

So, a company called Luxim has invented a tic-tac sized lamp that contains argon at its center, a component called a “puck,” and a dielectric embedded structure that heats the argon to over 6000° K - making it so unbelievably bright for its size.  A source that uses plasma to generate light.

Could we be on the verge of something amazing here?  It certainly looks that way:

The plasma bulb uses 250 watts, and achieves around 140 lumens per watt, making it very bright and highly efficient. By comparison, conventional lightbulbs and high-end LEDs get around 15 and 70 lumens per watt, respectively.

“A key advantage is that the energy is driven into the bulb without any electrodes, so you don’t need any electrical connections to get the energy into the bulb,” Luxim CEO Tony McGettigan explained to ZDNet.

Check out articles at CNet and Physorg.

I came across an article recently written by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that discusses a discovery made by RPI - a material made from a loosely populated coating of carbon nanotubes that has a reflectance of 0.045. This is ground breaking - the current standard is 1.4%. Researchers have developed this material coating to facilitate better solar energy absorption, and this is a great thing considering that we need to develop some new technologies to overcome our addiction to oil. From the article:

“It is a fascinating technology, and this discovery will allow us to increase the absorption efficiency of light as well as the overall radiation-to-electricity efficiency of solar energy conservation,” said Shawn-Yu Lin, professor of physics at Rensselaer and a member of the university’s Future Chips Constellation, who led the research project. “The key to this discovery was finding how to create a long, extremely porous vertically aligned carbon nanotube array with certain surface randomness, therefore minimizing reflection and maximizing absorption simultaneously.”

This is an excellent discovery on many levels. Outside of the uses for Solar Power Generation and increasing the amount of sunlight we can harness and utilize, a designer like myself has to consider the usage of such a material in the entertainment lighting arena as well - a material that reflects nearly no light almost makes lighting designers’ jokes about a “light sponge” for those spots on the stage or production where you don’t want light a reality. Imagine whole soft goods made of a coating of this material. Imagine scenic paint composed of this material. The possibilities are endless.

Check out the rest of RPI’s article here.