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Silicon LED

Posted by michael on from the mommy,-is-my-RAM-supposed-to-glow-like-that? dept.

Ian writes "Scientists at the University of Surrey have developed an LED made entirely from silicon. This is a different approach to optoelectonics which had previously concentrated on nanocrystals. Full report from Nature, also coverage from the BBC, stand back and watch the patents fly (although in this case they are much more deserved)."

11 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Great news by ralmeida · · Score: 3
    Perhaps this will enlighten Silicon Valley a little bit?

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  2. From the BBC radio interview... by Andy_R · · Score: 3
    ...which went into more depth than the article:

    The real benefit of this is that these silicon light emitters can fairly easily be fabbed in existing chip plants wthout requiring the 'start from scratch' of other optical computing tecnologies.

    This technique should (according to the invetor) provide a way of building hybrid practical electronic/optical chips very soon. He particularly mentioned the clock distribution problem that /. had a big discussion on few days back as being one of the first applications he expects to see for this technology.

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  3. Re:Hey, that should give the Hollywood guys a brea by doctor_oktagon · · Score: 3

    If someone gets going a transparent cube with lots of transparent chips blinking very fast in different colors... well, all I can say is they will get a lot of free coverage in the next major films.

    It's already been done in Blakes 7 (spectacular BBC TV sci-fi series from the 80s).

    Computer was called Orac, and had a spectacularly cheesy pseudo-computer-generated voice!

    To quote:
    Orac was described by its creator, Ensor, as being beyond a simple computer but rather being a brain, a genius.

    Sounds just like b1ll Gates describing Win2K ;-)

  4. Optical Computing by Alien54 · · Score: 3
    Plainly a step in the direction of optical computing.

    Although details like the reaction time of the optical effect are missing. In a world where many things are measured in nanoseconds, if these things react in millionths, for example, then this will limit the applications.

    Interesting all the same.

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    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  5. More info by stubob · · Score: 3

    I submitted this story too. More information from Yahoo(via Reuters). They mention how it works, something with dislocations, loop-flaws in the silicon. The press release from U-Surrey is here. Google also claims to have indexed their paper here but accesss is forbidden.

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    Planning to be moderated ± 1: Bad Pun.
  6. Re:this is clearly a hoax... by DetritusX · · Score: 3

    "...I think Britain has actually won more noble prizes in total than the US..."

    I would imagine they would, seeing as the US doesn't have a recognized nobility. Unless they've been giving Noble Prizes in Funkology to Prince or Sir Mix-a-Lot... :)

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  7. Hey, that should give the Hollywood guys a break! by OpenSourced · · Score: 3

    I mean, they really miss the old times when they could represent computers with lots of blinking red lights!

    If someone gets going a transparent cube with lots of transparent chips blinking very fast in different colors... well, all I can say is they will get a lot of free coverage in the next major films.

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    Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
  8. Silicone LEDs? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4

    "Flashing your tits" gets a whole new meaning :)

  9. They exist! by HarryTuttle · · Score: 4

    It's long been a rumour, but finally...

    Silicon-based light forms!

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    Don't fight it son. Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardise your credit rating.
  10. Re:Let there be light by trentfoley · · Score: 4
    Perhaps I'm missing something here, but I don't think the point of this research directly relates to transmission of data over fibre. I see it more as an improved interface between the optical and electrical world that has potential to be much more efficient. My reason for thinking this way has to do with the paragraph in the Nature article:

    But the light-emitting devices needed to do this can't be built into silicon circuits. They rely on semiconducting materials that don't sit comfortably on silicon chips, and so they have to be mounted separately in the awkward hybrid technology 'optoelectronics'. The physical separation of light emitters and electronic circuitry is a bottleneck to further miniaturization, and so to greater processing power and speed.
    Nor do I see this applying to flat-panel display technology, or electronic paper for that matter.
    Then again, having been married for over 10 years, I know that I'm almost never right about anything.
  11. Re:Indirect bandgap. by swm · · Score: 5
    That's the whole point of this invention.

    The number of momentum states is (essentially) equal to the number of Si atoms in the crystal. So if you make a crystal with only a few atoms, you only get a few momentum states.

    That may push the bands around so that you get a direct band gap,

    OR

    That may make it possible to get a significant carrier population in the zero-momentum state, even though that isn't the lowest energy state.