Foto Gallery #1`

Might as well install a few pictures in the Cafe. I finally figured out how to do super macro closeups with the new camera.


This LED is the size and shape of an ordinary glass package germanium diode.


And this is a picture of *part* of a small rectangular, dual chip indicator LED.

Both of these pictures were compressed for easy loading. They're a bit more clear at a lower compression setting.

The insides of a blue Luxeon. This one came out nasty.

Is this a pile of car springs or the inside of a blown out light bulb?

I like those super-close-ups. Especially the filament shot.

lightlover

The tiny glass capsule next to the LED is arguably the world's smallest practical incandescent light bulb.




This bulb can fit through the eye of some types of medium sized sowing needles. It is smaller in diameter than the head of a common pin.



As you can see, I've figured out a way to get even higher magnification without changing lenses. The camera comes with a 3x optical zoom, why not use it in super macro mode too?

You won't find this trick anywhere in the camera's manual or on camera websites. My own special photographic method, developed exclusively for The LED Museum. The picture of the LED and light bulb together is the maximum magnification the camera can provide on its own.

The light bulb is of the general type used in LCD watches to illuminate the backglass.
It is rated 1.5 volts @ 15 milliamps.

This is the LED flasher IC inside a tiny light that fits inside your belly button.


The chip in this photo is about the size of the die in a blue Luxeon Star LED.




And this is the IC under even stronger magnification, again using the same camera & lens I started with.

At these extreme magnifications, lighting becomes a serious issue, and because of inadequate lighting, the pictures are becoming unacceptably noisy.

JPEG compression also affects these images horribly; the first chip picture should have nice sharp "turrets" on the upper edge; not fuzzy and rounded off. (I'm looking at the original pic on my other computer right now and can definitely see the difference!)

This is about as big as they're gonna get.

Wow! Very nice. The Nikon (and the user )does a really good job. Looking forward to more pics!

The inside of an old green LED, circa 1969.
Note the lack of a ball bond assembly; the wire was just smooshed onto the face of the LED crystal.



This is an "ordinary" Monsanto MV2 red LED from the 1960s.



And this is a bizarre variant of that LED that comes in the same package and is from the same era as the MV2. Maybe a high current version of the MV2?
This is the only LED I've seen with a top ohmic contact like this until the blue Luxeon emitters started showing up a few years ago.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:
Those are seriously good fotos! I do like that last one of the IC- that could almost have been taken through a microscope! The one of the frazzled bulb is good too- the melted ends of the tungsten filament can be very clearly seen. What sort of bulb is that?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That was the bulb that blew up inside my ProMetric system's calibrator a couple of days after I got it. It is (or was) a 575 watt quartz iodine.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:
In the past, I have improvised means to take macro pictures. Here`s a few of my attempts, using a modified CCTV camera.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've seen the one of your diamond shaped LED die before. Sure is a strange critter.
You sent me one of those too last spring, didn't you? I'll have to dig through all of my little stashboxes to see where I put it so I can try to photograph it myself.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:
Trying to show the star shape wirebond and bubbles in the silicone gel layer of a red Luxeon Star.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's comparable to what I could do with my old camera, and it ain't too bad for a CCTV.
I have a couple of TIP-chip Luxeons around here that I should try to photograph.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris M.:
These all took ages to get right, mainly cos the camera has to be so close to the objects that they almost touch the lens! Lighting these is [extremely tricky
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tripod helps. For lighting I balanced a Photon Fusion headlamp somewhere near the su bject where the camera wouldn't bump it.
It still isn't enough for those really close shots though, because the focal length can be measured in millimeters so the lens places the subject in shadow no matter what.

Manually holding the lens in place on the face of the camera introduces problems of its own, namely, movement. Once I find a way to secure the add-on lens while still allowing it to automatically fall off should the camera suddenly power down and retract its own lens, I can take these pictures totally hands free, using the self-timer. No more movement, which is of utmost importance with high magnifications like this.

P.S.
Your little axial lead bulb looks burnt out. :0

Hey... mine's broken!

If they made LEDs on the Flinstones, this is what they might have looked like. This early 1970s yellow LED has some serious issues with QC on the die attach slug, but at least it lights up.

Those are seriously good fotos! I do like that last one of the IC- that could almost have been taken through a microscope! The one of the frazzled bulb is good too- the melted ends of the tungsten filament can be very clearly seen. What sort of bulb is that?

In the past, I have improvised means to take macro pictures. Here`s a few of my attempts, using a modified CCTV camera.

Trying to show the star shape wirebond and bubbles in the silicone gel layer of a red Luxeon Star.



A vintage green LED with an unusual dimaond shaped die.



My own teensy tiny watch backlight bulb. This one could be smaller than Craig`s? Next to surface mount LEDs that are about 2x1mm.


and the bulb closer...



These all took ages to get right, mainly cos the camera has to be so close to the objects that they almost touch the lens! Lighting these is [extremely tricky