6 IntroduCtIon to Led teChnoLogy/aPPLICatIons
efficiency of blue SiC LEDs only marginally improved due to an indi-
rect band gap in the p-n junction. By the early 1990s, the maximum
efficiency of blue SiC LEDs that emitted blue light at a 470 nm wave-
length was only approximately 0.03 percent. us, the low efficiency
of SiC LEDs resulted in scientists turning their attention to other
semiconductor materials both as a mechanism to enhance efficiency
as well as a method to generate light from other areas of the frequency
spectrum. One such approach was the development of infrared LEDs
based on the use of GaAs.
1.1.3.2.1 Gallium Arsenide LEDs During the 1960s, infrared (IR)
LEDs were developed based on the use of GaAs that was grown as a
crystal, t