LED
Science & Engineering abbreviation · Electronics & Electrical
| Stands for | Light-emitting diode |
|---|---|
| Categories | Science & Engineering |
LED stands for Light-emitting diode, an electronics & electrical abbreviation also used in technology.
Semiconductor device that emits light when current passes through it, as electrons and holes recombine and release photons whose color depends on the material. LEDs light homes, streets, screens, car headlights, traffic signals and indicator lamps, using far less energy than incandescent bulbs and lasting tens of thousands of hours.
Example: Switching the warehouse to LED fixtures cut lighting electricity use by about 60%.
Usage notes
Henry Round observed electroluminescence in silicon carbide in 1907, and Nick Holonyak Jr. built the first visible-light (red) LED at General Electric in 1962. Efficient blue LEDs, developed by Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura in the early 1990s, made white LED lighting possible and earned the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics. Most white LEDs use a blue chip coated with yellow phosphor. Pronounced as letters, "L-E-D."
Related abbreviations
More electronics & electrical abbreviations
- JFET – Junction field-effect transistor
- JTAG – Joint Test Action Group
- LCD – Liquid-crystal display
- LCR – Inductance, capacitance and resistance (meter)
- LDO – Low-dropout regulator
- LDR – Light-dependent resistor
- LNA – Low-noise amplifier
- MCB – Miniature circuit breaker
- MCU – Microcontroller unit
- MOSFET – Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor
- NC – Normally closed
- NEC – National Electrical Code