While the lighting design community appreciates the bright, clean light of energy-efficient LEDs, it has also lamented that LEDs lack the warm, tungsten glow of incandescent light. But now, researchers at MIT in Boston are revitalizing the century-old technology of incandescent light bulbs, making them more efficient for modern standards.
MIT physicists have developed a new light bulb that "recycles light." The process takes the energy that usually is wasted as escaped heat, and redirects it back to the light-emitting filament wrapped in a photonic crystal, where it is reabsorbed and converted into light, according to MIT News.
The first proof-of-concept prototype achieved 6.6% efficiency, within the same 5-20% efficiency range of compact LEDs. Research suggests that the technology could achieve 40% efficiency, a far cry from the 2 to 3% efficiency of incandescent light bulbs, according to MIT News.
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For the full article, visit MIT News.