(Invited) Advancing Human-Centric Lighting

Abstract

The concept of human-centric lighting stems from the evolution of sunlight’s intensity and color temperature throughout the course of a day. This natural progression of bright cold-white light during the middle of the day to a softer warm-white light in the evening stimulates intrinsic photosensitive retinal ganglion cells that control our circadian rhythm. The blue-hue of daylight activates these cells to produce dopamine and cortisol while suppressing melatonin, the sleep hormone, to keep humans awake and alert. The current generation of energy-efficient LED lights reproduce daylight by converting a blue-emitting LED into a broad-spectrum white light using inorganic phosphors. Unfortunately, the resulting intense blue-hue generated by cheap LED bulbs and the underlying blue light from even the most expensive bulbs have been shown to cause macular degeneration, cataract formation, mood disorders, and circadian disruption, resulting in insomnia and fatigue. This talk will investigate the production of a ‘human-centric’ light that minimizes blue light by using a violet LED chip and inorganic phosphors. We report a new phosphor, Na2MgPO4F:Eu2+, which can be readily excited by violet light to produce a bright blue emission. This material possesses all the necessary requirements for LED lighting, including a high quantum yield, thermally robust emission, and impressive chemical stability. Incorporating this material into a prototype device demonstrates our ability produce a warm-white light with a higher color rendering index than a commercially purchased LED light bulb while significantly reducing the blue component.