Will Silicon Substrates Push LED Lighting Into the Mainstream？

　　發(fā)光二極管比傳統(tǒng)照明有許多優(yōu)點，包括功效、壽命和堅固性，但價格不是其中之一。。

　　之所以發(fā)光二極管價格昂貴，部分原因是用于制造芯片的制造過程是困難的，并且使用了諸如藍寶石（或GaN）上的氮化鎵（藍寶石）襯底等稀有材料。

　　但最近，一些生產(chǎn)商建議使用硅作為LED襯底，通常每年都要制造數(shù)十億次集成電路（ic）。除了潛在的降低LED的成本，使用成熟的互補金屬氧化物半導(dǎo)體（CMOS）芯片技術(shù)會使傳統(tǒng)的晶圓廠，有余力的制造。

　　However， the idea is not new. Silicon has been tried before， but large mismatches between its crystal structure and coefficient of thermal expansion， and those of the GaN used for the LED proper created faults that lowered the end product’s efficacy and dramatically shortened its life. Now new developments promise to overcome these drawbacks.

　　This article describes recent advances in manufacturing technology for silicon-substrate LEDs with reference to the work done by major makers， and compares the performance of the experimental chips with today’s commercial LEDs.