6. Conclusion

The era of incandescent lighting has come to an end, and while fluorescent lighting is still around, innovations in this field are few and far between. Clearly, the lighting of the 21st century will be less energy-intensive, more durable and efficient, less impacting on the environment, versatile, modular and integrable.

Technologically speaking, there is still considerable theoretical scope for LEDs at chip level, since their efficiency can exceed 100% (by thermal pumping into the atmosphere). The extraction of the light produced at the heart of the junction is also being addressed, with the integration of photonic crystals or innovative solutions such as nanowire LEDs; thermal management is also a concern, and flip-chip technologies are an example of a response to this kind of problem, while quantum dots LEDs (QDLEDs) are another example of the development of...