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Phoenix666 writes:

Florida State University's (FSU's) discovery has to do with replacing what is usually 4-5 layers with a single layer of inexpensive combo-organic/inorganic material that can glow red, green or blue (or all three together for white LEDs) and can be deposited at room temperature rather than at the high temperatures needed by other processes.

"LED researchers have only been using these new materials for about three years, even though its been used for solar panels for quite some time," professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at FSU, Zhibin Yu, told EE Times. "Other groups are working on it for LEDs, but they need several layers of materials making it expensive to process. We are first published group to use a single layer."

"Our new new device structure requires just mixing the organic polymer with the active inorganics, instead of using complicated structures with many layers," Yu told us, "therefore making the process inexpensive and highly manufacturable."

Beyond lowering home electricity costs, cheaper LEDs can make vertical farming more practical by supplementing daylighting.

Original Submission