UK Department of Trade and Industry Funds Collaboration

Sharp Laboratories of Europe, based in Oxford, the University of Glasgow and the Institute of Photonics, which is part of the University of Strathclyde, all in the UK, are collaborating to develop light sources for LCD flat panel display backlighting under a $2.4 million project sponsored by the UK Department of Trade and Industry. The two-year project aims to develop 405-nm LEDs with integrated quasicrystal photonic structures to maximize light output without increasing electrical energy input. The devices will be designed and modeled by Mesophotonics of Southampton, UK. The groups expect the development to help reduce the cost of high-brightness LEDs.