New Tech Tuesdays
Join Mouser’s Technical Content team for a weekly look at all things interesting, new, and noteworthy for design engineers.
Published June 17, 2025
Traditional white light-emitting diodes (LEDs), typically created by combining a blue LED chip with a yellow phosphor coating, have limitations in color rendering. Newer approaches use multiple phosphors or RGB LED combinations to achieve higher Color Rendering Index (CRI) values, often above 90, which reproduce natural light and colors more accurately. Additionally, tunable white LEDs now allow users to adjust color temperature dynamically, making lighting more adaptable to various environments. These adjustments can range from a warm white color temperature at 2700 Kelvin (K) to cool white at 6500K. Now, advancements in white LEDs are opening new possibilities in lighting technology.
In this week’s New Tech Tuesdays, we examine two material technologies that could further transform the performance and appearance of white LEDs.
Quantum Dot and Perovskite LEDs
Emerging materials like quantum dots and perovskites are transforming the LED landscape. Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that can emit precise wavelengths of light when excited. They allow for more accurate color tuning, better color purity, and improved efficiency in white LED applications. Quantum dot-enhanced LEDs are already used in high-end displays and are making their way into general lighting.
Perovskite-based LEDs show great promise thanks to their high light conversion efficiency, solution-processability, and low production costs. While perovskite LEDs are still primarily in the research stage due to stability and toxicity concerns, breakthroughs in material composition and encapsulation techniques bring them closer to commercialization.
Improved Efficiency and Luminous Efficacy
Researchers and manufacturers of white LED technology continually seek to improve the devices’ luminous efficacy, that is, the ability to produce more lumens per watt of power. Progress is being made due to better semiconductor materials, more efficient phosphors, and advanced heat dissipation technologies. These improvements reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, supporting global sustainability goals.
White LED technology is increasingly integrated into smart lighting systems, which can be controlled via smartphones or AI-enabled systems. Smart LEDs automatically adjust brightness and color temperature based on the time of day or user activity, promoting better health and productivity. For example, human-centric lighting that aligns with natural circadian rhythms uses tunable white LEDs to mimic daylight patterns, supporting sleep, mood, and overall well-being.
The Newest Products for Your Newest Designs®
This week’s New Tech Tuesdays includes innovative white LED products from Kingbright and ams OSRAM.
Kingbright’s QuantumDot 01005 Series (Figure 1) are ultra-miniature white LEDs with a wide 140° viewing angle. The LEDs are made with aluminum gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) on a gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrate and, at just 0.45mm × 0.25mm × 0.2mm, their compact footprint makes them suitable for space-constrained designs.
Figure 1: Kingbright QuantumDot LEDs feature a wide, 140° viewing angle in a subminiature 0.45mm × 0.25mm × 0.2mm package. (Source: Mouser Electronics)
Special packaging technology, in combination with optimal material selection, can also make white LEDs more resilient to environmental conditions. ams OSRAM demonstrates this concept with its newly developed LTRB RASF.01 multi-chip LED (Figure 2). Designed for easy binning, it reaches an ESD level of 4kV, according to ANSI/ESDA/JEDEC JS-001 (HBM, Class 3A). The LED’s silicone resin SMT housing offers high corrosion robustness (Class 2B) and is suitable for applications in harsher environments.
Figure 2: The ams OSRAM LTRB RASF.01 LED is ideal for gaming, entertainment, appliances, and industrial applications. (Source: Mouser Electronics)
Tuesday’s Takeaway
White LED technology is evolving rapidly, fueled by innovations in materials, engineering, and digital integration. From higher efficiency and color accuracy to intelligent and human-centric applications, the latest developments in white LEDs are revolutionizing how we think about lighting. As these innovations continue to mature, white LEDs will not only illuminate our spaces more effectively but also integrate seamlessly into the smart, sustainable, and personalized environments of the future.
