LED Lights Keep Improving

Not long ago, LED lights were a relative unknown in consumer circles. They were used only for very specific industrial and commercial purposes. However, LEDs have seen a great resurgence – powered, at first, by an embrace of their efficiency and low-heat performance. Now, they appear in cutting-edge machine vision systems with increasing regularity.

The performance benefits of LEDs are well known:

• They generate virtually no waste heat, making them right for sensitive applications;
• Their lifespan can be ten times longer than comparable fluorescents or other lights;
• They are available in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and more recently, colors;
• They are typically less expensive than many other illumination sources.

Traditionally, LEDs have had some issues with inferior lighting performance compared to the alternatives. Today, the underlying technology of LEDs is undergoing a transformation, and old ideas about performance limitations may soon be outdated.

Next Generation LEDs Offer Flexibility and Superior Performance

Evolution in LED manufacturing trends has made it easier for suppliers to consistently produce a superior product. Engineers at all levels are noticing greater clarity and brightness coupled with the advantages LED aficionados are already familiar with.

Some key upgrades in LED manufacturing include:

Better Production Equipment

LED manufacturers have shifted their focus to sophisticated Class 1,000 clean rooms, protecting processes from any particulate matter larger than .5 micrometer per cubic foot. New multi-reactor systems have replaced conventional MOCVD machines to generate better die substrates.

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Streamlined, Efficient Processes

Early LEDs could not produce warm white light, delivering CRI of only 50-60. Better binning and precise manipulation of the phosphor coating work together to overcome this issue. The switch from sapphire substrate to thin-film die production further enhances visual performance.

Superior Materials

The wafers used for average first-generation LEDs ranged anywhere from three to four inches thick. Today’s six-inch wafers are better in every way: They generate up to twice the volume of high-performance die chips at an overall savings up to 50%.

The Future of LEDs is Brighter than Ever

The obvious end result of these changes is superior visual performance – but that’s truly only the beginning. The already impressive energy savings associated with LEDs only stands to improve. Production processes use 300% less energy, and LEDs themselves are expected to capture a 10% energy savings in the next four years. With this comes more compact, lower-cost bulbs, passing on further savings to both the industrial consumer and the end user.

Want to learn more about LED lights and see how they may work for your systems? See the featured article on LED light improvements at AIA’s Vision Online website. The fast-evolving world of LED illumination has never been more accessible to the machine vision professional.