RGB LED under microscope

Clear shots of all 3 dies in an RGB LED.

[LeuelFan]

They should use RGB LEDs on Traffic lights and signals! That would be cool

[Alumx]

sweet, but why red led have different pattern?

[superdau]

@xato909
Blue and green (the high intensity type, not the decades old green LED) use the same or a very similar semiconductor type, while the red one is completely different. So it could be that they need a different connector pattern (the lines are small wires) to light up over the whole die. Or an even simpler explanation: blue and green dies come from one factory line and red, being a different technology from another and the patterns just happen to be different.

[skeptical_thinkers]

You are mostly correct. Red LEDs have a lower voltage, so in order to get a uniform light pattern, the top electrode must more wires because the low voltage penetrates less distance into the semiconductor, so you need more wires on top to compensate.

[DeKemp]

Why would you want that? There is a reason why traficlights consist of 3 individual lights, so collor-blind can use them.

[Exatomos]

@xato909 I think because red is made by lighting a different kind of material. So the way to "heat" it is different.

[AshleyJColeman]

Because the red material is a very brittle substance and because of limitations of the manufacturing process....well, shortcuts, they form red LED's in a different ways to other colors. Other colors which differ in manufacturing processes are pink and ultra bright white because of the chemicals used.

[MasterKozuko]

Blue hurts night vision and it's probably a leading reason why it's not used. Yellow lights are usually in the middle... I would imagine it was the Red/Green that would get mixed up.

[LeuelFan]

And I guess it would look weird. Colorblind people can probably tell the difference b/w red and green since they're so different. usually blue/green confuses people.

[thijsloon]

@xato909 i think its because it needs more power to make an even amount of light

[RMoribayashi]

I also see traffic lights as yellow, yellow and white instead of red, yellow and green. The best solution I've seen is surrounding the traffic signal with a reflective white border. That way you can use position alone for all but the most complex combinations. By the way, because of it's political meaning and not being an very accurate description, the term colorblind is falling out of fashion in favor of "color vision deficiency" or CVD, since very few people are truly blind to color.

[chrisbailey]

I wish they used 660nm for the red in the RGB leds instead of the orangish 630nm led.

[prayag]

why don't you do a tutorial on how to control a RGB LED

[dazzlerkumar]

Great man, you clear my curiosity !!!  

[erixmix]

Is this the same microscope you featured in a video?

[thewii]

@prayag123456789 because it is the same as a normal LED but with 2 extra pins.

[rsgodcraftriot]

They want a lawsuit from Spiderman's creator, durr.

[LeuelFan]

Yea, and I guess it'll look wierd

[NoorquackerInd]

I despise red LEDs!!!
I have an Arduino(chip defeated by speaker), and my blue LED is ultra bright when connected. When my red one is connected the exact same way, it wasn't very bright. The manufacturer is not bright either. Then it heated up, and before I removed it, it overheated. And now the red part of my RGB LED is ultra dim!

[htfcirno]

They can't... people with color blindness kinda need separate lights...