Samsung reports breakthrough in LED technology

Researchers at South Korean electronics giant Samsung have reported a breakthrough in light-emitting diode (LED) technology that will allow production of cheaper ultra-large advanced display panels on ordinary glass, such as window panes.

Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology succeeded in fabricating nearly single crystalline Gallium Nitride (GaN) on amorphous glass substrates, a milestone that will enable production of super-sized LEDs using glass substrates, Samsung Electronics Co. Said.

"In ten years, window panes will double as lighting and display screens, giving personality to buildings," Yonhap news agency quoted a Samsung researcher who was part of the project.

The LED industry widely uses sapphire substrates but glass substrates can be tailored into ultra-large products, likely driving down production costs.

While the GaN LEDs available in markets are 2-inches in size, the new technology can produce GaN LEDs as much as 400 times larger than the current products, the company said.

LEDs are used as back-lighting for consumer electronics products like TVs. Samsung said GaN LEDs will be applied to large-size lightings and advanced displays in coming years.

The technology will take another 10 years to develop for commercial production.

Samsung said the work was published on the online version of Nature Photonics, a monthly scientific journal published by the Nature Publishing Group.