Lighting

Access our comprehensive library of technical briefs on lighting, from engineering experts at NASA and major government, university, and commercial laboratories.

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Briefs: Lighting
One of the frontiers of medical diagnostics is the race for more sensitive blood tests. The ability to detect extremely rare proteins could make a life-saving difference for many...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research's (ONR) TechSolutions program, the Flashing Light to Text Converter (FLTC) features a camera that can be mounted atop a signal lamp...
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Briefs: Transportation
An optical setup developed by researchers at Sandia's Combustion Research Facility and the Technical University of Denmark can now quantify the formation of soot — particulate matter consisting...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Single-Crystal SiGe/Sapphire Epitaxy
NASA's Langley Research Center has developed a new low-temperature method of SiGe/sapphire growth that produces the same single-crystal films with much less thermal loading effort to the substrate. This eliminates the time-consuming and costly high heating, long thermal soak times, and interfacial Si layer....
Briefs: Lighting
One current method to build a semiconductor superlattice — materials comprised of alternating layers of ultra-thin, two-dimensional sheets only one or a few...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Optical fibers have been traditionally produced by making a cylindrical object called a preform — essentially, a scaled-up model of the fiber — and then heating it. Softened material...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Computer processors have continued to shrink down to nanometer sizes where there can be billions of transistors on a single chip. This phenomenon is described under Moore's Law, which...
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Briefs: Energy
When hit with light, semiconductors (materials that have an electrical resistance in between that of metals and insulators) generate an electric current....
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Briefs: Lighting
Positional sensors have applications where a very accurate measurement of position is needed over a limited range. One example of such an application is in manipulation of a stage...
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Briefs: Imaging
A driverless car is making its way through a winding neighborhood street, about to make a sharp turn onto a road where a child’s ball has just rolled. Although no person in the car can see that ball, the car...
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Briefs: Imaging
Crew time on the International Space Station (ISS) is extremely limited for any operations on science payloads. Autonomous science experiments in small, self-contained, cubical payloads are highly desirable...
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Briefs: Energy
Wireless Charging of Moving Electric Vehicles
If electric cars could recharge while driving down a highway, it would virtually eliminate concerns about their range and lower their cost, perhaps making electricity the standard fuel for vehicles. Researchers have wirelessly transmitted electricity to a nearby moving object, which could advance...
Briefs: Imaging
Researchers at MIT and several other institutions have developed a method for making photonic devices — similar to electronic devices but based on light rather than electricity —...
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Briefs: Lighting
Spectral images, which contain more color information than is obtainable with a typical camera, reveal characteristics of tissue and other biological samples that can't be seen by the...
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Briefs: Imaging
A number of instruments have been built to obtain range images — a two-dimensional array of numbers that gives the depth of a scene along many directions from a central point in the instrument. Instead of measuring the...
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Briefs: Lighting
High-Performance Photocatalytic Oxidation Reactor System
As crewed space missions extend beyond low Earth orbit, the need to reliably recover potable water is critical. Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the water is recycled from cabin humidity condensate, urine distillate, and hygiene wash wastes. In spacecraft cabin air environments,...
Briefs: Lighting
High-tech specks called quantum dots could bring brighter, more vibrant color to mass market TVs, tablets, phones and other displays. A new technology called 3M quantum dot enhancement film...
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Briefs: Lighting
Scientists at the University of Washington have developed what they believe is the thinnest-possible semiconductor, a new class of nanoscale materials made in sheets only three...
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Briefs: Lighting
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new processing technique that makes light emitting diodes (LEDs) brighter and more resilient by coating the semiconductor...
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Briefs: Lighting
A team of researchers has demonstrated that atomic force microscope (AFM) probe tips made from its near-perfect gallium nitride nanowires are superior in many respects to standard silicon or...
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Briefs: Lighting
Improving the Efficiency of Green-Blue-Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diodes
Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have suggested a method that could significantly increase the efficiency of green-blue-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes based on GaInN/GaN, AlGaN/GaN, and AlInN/GaN quantum wells. Their approach could enable advances in...
Briefs: Lighting
The ultimate challenge in the race to miniaturize light emitting diodes (LED) has finally been met. A team led by the Institut de Physique et de Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS, CNRS/Université de...
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Briefs: Lighting
A team of MIT researchers has used a novel material that’s just a few atoms thick to create devices that can harness or emit light. This proof-of-concept could lead to ultra-thin,...
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Briefs: Lighting
Crystals form the basis for the penetrating icy blue glare of car headlights and now they could be fundamental to the future in solar energy technology?...
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Briefs: Lighting
By inserting platinum atoms into an organic semiconductor, University of Utah physicists were able to “tune” the plastic-like polymer to emit light of different colors – a step...
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Briefs: Lighting
Using thousands of nanometer-scale wires, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a sensor device that converts mechanical pressure – from a signature or a...
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Briefs: Lighting
Commercial uses for ultraviolet (UV) light are growing, and now a new kind of LED under development at The Ohio State University could lead to more portable and low-cost uses...
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Briefs: Lighting
Minuscule crystals that glow different colors may be the missing ingredient for white LED lighting that illuminates homes and offices as effectively as natural sunlight.
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Briefs: Lighting
Tiny particles of matter called quantum dots, which emit light with exceptionally pure and bright colors, have found a prominent role as biological markers. In addition, they are realizing their potential...
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