LED turns 50

General Electric Co. marked the 50th anniversary of the invention of the light-emitting diode (LED), created by former GE engineer and University of Illinois professor Nick Holonyak Jr.

Separately, Fairfield-based GE made official a previously reported $7.5 million collaboration with the University of Connecticut to research advanced circuit breakers and other electrical systems.

When Holonyak joined GE in 1957, scientists were already researching semiconductor applications and designing the forerunners of modern diodes.

While one GE scientist was working on a semiconductor laser in the infrared spectrum, Holonyak aimed for the visible spectrum. On October 9, 1962, Holonyak became the first person to operate a visible semiconductor alloy laser ”“ the device that illuminated the first visible LED.

LEDs are illuminated by electrons moving through semiconductor materials. Among other benefits, they require far less energy to operate, last much longer, and allow for easy control of color and brightness.

“I know that I’m just at the front end but I know the result is so powerful,” Holonyak recalled thinking, in a September interview published by GE. “There”™s no ambiguity about the fact that this has got a life way beyond what we’re seeing.”