Researchers at the University of California, Davis (“UC Davis”) have developed an optical absorber/emitter for thermophotovoltaics application with a tunable emission wavelength.

      Goniophotometers measure the luminance distribution of light emitted or reflected from a point in space or a material sample. Increasingly there is a need for such measurements in real-time, and in real-world situations, for example, for daylight monitoring or harvesting in commercial and residential buildings, design and optimization of greenhouses, and testing laser and display components for AR/VR and autonomous vehicles, to name a few. However, current goniophotometers are ill-suited for real-time measurements; mechanical scanning goniophotometers have a large form factor and slow acquisition times. Parallel goniophotometers take faster measurements but suffer from complexity, expense, and limited angular view ranges (dioptric angular mapping systems) or strict form factor and sample positioning requirements (catadioptric angular mapping systems). Overall, current goniophotometers are therefore limited to in-lab environments.      To overcome these challenges, UC Berkeley researchers have invented an optical sensor  for parallel goniophotometry that is compact, cost-effective, and capable of real-time daylight monitoring. The novel optical design addresses key size and flexibility constraints of current state-of-the-art catadioptric angular mapping systems, while maximizing the view angle measurement at 90°. This camera-like, angular mapping device could be deployed at many points within a building to measure reflected light from fenestrations, in agricultural greenhouses or solar farms for real-time monitoring, and in any industry benefitting from real-time daylight data.

The California Lighting Technology Center at UC Davis in collaboration with the Center for Mind and Brain have developed a novel lighting technology approach for stress recovery and stress mitigation.

In developed countries, buildings demand a large percentage of a region's energy-generating requirements. This has led to an urgent need for efficient buildings with reduced energy requirements. In office buildings, lighting takes up 20% to 45% of the total energy consumption. Furthermore, the adoption of smart lighting control strategies such as daylight harvesting is shown to reduce lighting energy use by 30% to 50%.For most closed-loop lighting control systems, the real-time data of the daylight level at areas of interest (e.g., the office workbench) are the most important inputs. Current state-of-the-art solutions use dense arrays of luxmeters (photosensors) to monitor the daylight environment inside buildings. The luxmeters are placed on either workbenches, or ceilings and walls near working areas. Digital cameras are used in controlled laboratory environments and occasionally in common buildings to evaluate glare resulting from excessive daylight. The disadvantage of these sensor-based approaches is that they're expensive to install and commission. Additionally, the sample area of these sensors is limited to either the area of the luxmeters or the view of the cameras. Consequently, many sensors are needed to measure the daylight in a large office space.To address this situation, researchers at UC Berkeley developed a portable cyber-physical system for real time, daylight evaluation in buildings, agriculture facilities, and solar farms (collectively referred to as "structures").

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A new structure for III-N transistors that is able to maintain a high breakdown and operating voltage while improving the gain of the device.

A structure for improving the performance and reliability of III-nitride based tunnel junction optoelectronic devices.

An m-plane VCSEL with an active region that has thick quantum wells and operation in continuous wave.

Methods of physical vapor deposition for III-nitride tunnel junction devices.

Prof. Yang and colleagues have developed a novel method of preparing organic-inorganic thin films using a solution process followed by vapor treatment, presenting a low-cost, high-performance solution method of producing optoelectronic devices.

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A method for generating a stand-alone ceramic phosphor composite for use in solid state white light generating devices that successfully reduces the operating temperature of the phosphor material by 50%, increases lumen output, reduces cost of materials, and decreases preparation time.

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A solid state white lighting device consisting of a blue laser diode that emits light onto a single crystal phosphor, resulting in the emission of high-intensity white light. 

Novel quantum dot field-effect transistors without bias-stress effect that also have high mobility and are environmentally stable.

The technology is a high contrast optical grating.It features patterned silicon on sapphire and is designed for a broad range of optical frequencies: from visible to far infrared with ultra-high reflectivity.The technology can be tailored to mimic mirrors and other optical components.

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While white light LED light bulbs have proven to be highly successful, they historically have lacked one feature available in traditional incandescent light bulbs: the ability to provide multiple light outputs from one lamp. For example, 3-way Edison or incandescent light bulbs are widely used to provide switchable light outputs. A 3-way incandescent light bulb uses switched filaments to produce the light output of a 50 Watt (W), a 100 W, or a 150 W light bulb. Conventionally the incandescent has two filaments to produce different amounts of light at full voltage; it has a low-power 50 W filament and a medium-power 100 W filament, and when switched to being used at the same time 150 W of power (and light) is delivered. This feature has proven to be extremely popular and useful in 3-way incandescent light bulbs. As compared to conventional sources (e.g., incandescent, halogen, fluorescent), some reports predict the market penetration for white-light LEDs will continue to rise, from 36% in 2020 to >70% by 2030. In the U.S. (2018) LEDs have been used in almost 30% of indoor applications and >50% in outdoor applications. White light LED light bulbs having switch-selectable light outputs may be found useful and commercially desirable.

A high power, laser driven white light source that maintains efficiency and color stability at high temperatures.

A novel invention to enable the fabrication of (In,Ga,Al)N optoelectronic devices with thick active layers containing a high concentration of indium (In). 

University researchers have developed a miniature relay switch, with an overall volume of less than 100 mm3 that can handle up to 40 W of DC or 60 Hz line power. This invention also relates to methods of manufacturing these relay devices directly within or on any of the following using standard electronic manufacturing techniques: lead frames, substrates, microelectronic packages, printed circuit boards, flex circuits, and rigid-flex materials.

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Lighting is a major contributor to electricity consumption, accounting for 19 percent of global use and 34 percent in the U.S. The U.S. lighting market is currently dominated by the incandescent light bulb, which is only 5 percent efficient whereas the fluorescent lamp is 15 to 25 percent efficient. Solid-state luminaires, which are typically based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs), have the potential to revolutionize the industry with higher efficiency, better quality, and lower maintenance, possibly leading to a reduction of half the energy consumed by general illumination. For example, 30 percent efficiency has been achieved in a commercially available white LED and 50 percent in a laboratory white LED device. White light in such devices is produced either by combining light from different color LEDs or taking blue or near-UV light from an LED to “pump” a mixture of phosphors. The phosphor approach, when implemented with conventional phosphors, produces cold white light that is not color tunable and has non-optimal efficiency, but has the potential to overcome these shortcomings with the use of advances in materials.The appreciable energy savings derived by converting from incandescent to fluorescent lamps and solid-state lighting has spurred government measures towards phasing out incandescent light bulbs. The general lighting market is predicted to exceed $130 billion by 2011 with the LED-based share forecasted to grow to $1.4 billion by 2012. There is clearly an unmet need and great market opportunity for new energy-efficient lighting devices.