Infrared LED (light emitting diode) came into realization in the 1960s. It was the product of decades of theories waiting to be applied.
- An assistant to inventor Guglielmo Marconi, H.J. Round, made a "bright glow" detection and published his findings in a 1907 article that was soon forgotten.
- Russian scientist and inventor Oleg Vladimirovich Losev used the same compound as Round (silicon carbide or carborundum) to produce light emission via diodes, thus making him the father of the LED. He wrote extensively about his findings but died before it could be put to practical use.
- It was Texas Instruments' employees Robert Biard and Gary Pittman who discovered infrared LED and received a patent for it. They did this by passing electric current through gallium arsenide (GaAs), thus producing infrared radiation.
- However, it was General Electric Co. employee Nick Holonyak, Jr. who made infrared LED visible to the human eye in 1962. He did this by synthesizing gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP), thus producing a red light.
- For the first time, LED--specifically infrared LED--was commercialized, used for displays in electronic devices such as radios and watches. In the following years, more colors and wavelengths were made available, thus widening the general use of LEDs and making it ubiquitous today.
评论