Light-emitting diode 2026-10-18
The optical and electrical questions are different: photon energy sets a color scale, while light-emitting diode efficiency determines how much supplied energy escapes as light. The blue light-emitting diode made compact white light-emitting diodes and full-color displays practical. A modulated light-emitting diode can also supply the optical signal in a chopped-light lock-in experiment.
Figure 1.
Blue light-emitting diode: carrier injection, emitting structure and optical readout
. Original functional schematic of a representative indium gallium nitride quantum well device on sapphire, not a reconstruction of the 1989 or 1994 devices. Layer thicknesses are schematic. Separate electrical and optical readings determine different properties: terminal electric potential difference and electric current, spectrum, and calibrated escaping optical power. The arrows represent routes through the device rather than a calculated energy band profile. Source. Details.