LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES AND OPTICAL FIBERS

Semiconductors have become highly relevant to modern electronics, first with the transistor (Ge), then with Si for efficient electronic conduction. With the discovery of GaAs as an infrared light-emitter, efforts to develop other semiconductors were targeted for colored light-emitting diodes, such as GaAs1-xPx. It is now possible to produce light-emitting visible semiconducting materials, including a variety of materials. One now has various light-emitters throughout the visible region of the spectrum, with automobile tail-lights and traffic lights being red, yellow, or green found in a variety of optical devices. Now there are many different optical devices, with materials optimized for their color, and for various other properties. In addition to developing colored semiconductors, it is clear that devices are needed with no color, for transparent optical fibers. Such ultra-transparent optical fibers have been developed over the years.