Light emitting capacitor
Encyclopedia
Light emitting capacitor, or LEC, is a term used since at least 1961 to describe electroluminescent
panels. General Electric
has patents dating to 1938 on flat electroluminescent panels that are still made as night lights and backlights for instrument panel
displays. The drawbacks of conventional electroluminescent lights are low efficiency and lifetimes limited to hundreds of hours.
between the outside plates is a phosphor
that gives off photon
s when the capacitor is charged. By making one of the contacts transparent, the large area exposed emits light.
Electroluminescence
Electroluminescence is an optical phenomenon and electrical phenomenon in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field...
panels. General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
has patents dating to 1938 on flat electroluminescent panels that are still made as night lights and backlights for instrument panel
Instrument panel
Instrument panel has several uses:*Control panel *Flight instruments *Dashboard...
displays. The drawbacks of conventional electroluminescent lights are low efficiency and lifetimes limited to hundreds of hours.
Operation
Electroluminescent panels are a capacitor where the dielectricDielectric
A dielectric is an electrical insulator that can be polarized by an applied electric field. When a dielectric is placed in an electric field, electric charges do not flow through the material, as in a conductor, but only slightly shift from their average equilibrium positions causing dielectric...
between the outside plates is a phosphor
Phosphor
A phosphor, most generally, is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence. Somewhat confusingly, this includes both phosphorescent materials, which show a slow decay in brightness , and fluorescent materials, where the emission decay takes place over tens of nanoseconds...
that gives off photon
Photon
In physics, a photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic interaction and the basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation. It is also the force carrier for the electromagnetic force...
s when the capacitor is charged. By making one of the contacts transparent, the large area exposed emits light.
See also
- Electroluminescent displayElectroluminescent displayElectroluminescent Displays are a type of Flat panel display created by sandwiching a layer of electroluminescent material such as GaAs between two layers of conductors. When current flows, the layer of material emits radiation in the form of visible light...
- Electroluminescent wireElectroluminescent wireElectroluminescent wire is a thin copper wire coated in a phosphor which glows when an alternating current is applied to it. It can be used in a wide variety of applications—vehicle and/or structure decoration, safety and emergency lighting, toys, clothing etc.—much as rope light or Christmas...
- Photoelectrochemical cellPhotoelectrochemical cellPhotoelectrochemical cells or PECs are solar cells which generate electrical energy from light, including visible light. Some photoelectrochemical cells simply produce electrical energy, while others produce hydrogen in a process similar to the electrolysis of water.-Photogeneration cell:In this...
- ElectrochemiluminescenceElectrochemiluminescenceElectrochemiluminescence or electrogenerated chemiluminescence is a kind of luminescence produced during electrochemical reactions in solutions. In electrogenerated chemiluminescence, electrochemically generated intermediates undergo a highly exergonic reaction to produce an electronically excited...