The concept, demonstrated with microscopic LEDs in the lab, achieves a dramatic increase in brightness as well as the ability to create laser light — all characteristics that could make it valuable in a range of large-scale and miniaturized applications. A new design for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) developed by a team including scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may hold the key to overcoming a long-standing limitation in the light sources' efficiency. They are used in laser pointers and specialized scientific and industrial applications (optical pumping of other lasers, spectroscopy, surface hardening, welding). The telecommunications and optical data. Unlike normal light, lasers emit light that is coherent and unidirectional: the wavelengths are all lined up and traveling together in a tight, directed beam instead of wandering off in all directions.
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