Cheap, ultra low-power light source runs on

just 0.1 Watts

By Dario Borghino
October 21, 2014
7 Comments
4 Pictures

A new low-cost flat panel light source with extremely low power consumption could lead to
brighter, cheaper and greener lighting (Photo: Tohoku University)
Image Gallery (4 images)
Researchers at Tohoku University in Japan have developed a new low-cost flat panel light source
that could pioneer a new generation of brighter, cheaper and greener lighting devices to rival
LEDs. The device uses arrays of highly conductive carbon nanotubes to deliver evenly-
distributed illumination with high efficiency and a power consumption as low as 0.1 Watts
about 100 times lower than that of light-emitting diodes.



LED lights are renowned for their high efficiencies, but the fact that only a fraction of the
photons they produce actually ends up illuminating the surrounding environment suggests that
there is still much room for improvement. One alternative approach explored by Prof. Norihiro
Shimoi and colleagues was to build a structure based on carbon nanotubes, one-atom thick layers
of carbon folded into a cylindrical shape.
This state-of-the-art device has a diode-like structure like LEDs but, curiously enough, the way
in which it produces light is actually closer to the cathode ray tubes used in the TVs and
computer monitors of the past century. Under the influence of a strong electric field, each carbon
nanotube acts as a tiny cathode ray tube that releases a high-speed beam of electrons from its tip.
These electrons then hit a phospor screen kept under vacuum and, in the process, release a small
amount of energy that causes the phospor to glow.
Building the device was a fairly simple, low-cost process. The researchers started by mixing
highly crystalline single-walled carbon nanotubes with an organic solvent and a surfactant
compound. They then painted the mixture on the cathode and scratched the surface with
sandpaper, which allows the electrons to more easily separate from the tip of the nanotubes.

Overview of three-dimensional scratched surface morphology of the light source (Image:
Tohoku University)
Their test device needs a high voltage of 5 kV to produce the strong electric field that makes the
electron emission mechanism work, but the researchers say the power consumption of the device
is actually very low as little as 0.1 W, which is two orders of magnitude less than LEDs
require. This is partly because of the very low resistance posed by carbon nanotubes, and partly
because the electron emission mechanism generates beams that are about 1,000 times denser than
those in an incandescent light bulb, while also being much more directional and easy to control.
"Many researchers have attempted to construct light sources with carbon nanotubes as field
emitter," said Shimoi, "but nobody has developed an equivalent and simpler lighting device."
The scientists say their simple, unoptimized device already achieved a good brightness
homogeneity and fairly high lighting efficiency of 60 lumens per watt, which compares to
around 100 lm/W for LEDs and 40 lm/W for organic LEDs, or OLEDs. With further
development, this holds promise for cheaper, greener, and eventually, brighter devices that could
compete with or surpass the performance of LEDs.