Joseph DeNicholas
National Semiconductor

Designers of lighting systems have had a challenging time dimming every light source technology developed beyond the filament-based lamp. Dimming is critical in many applications because it allows the setting of an appropriate and desired level of light as well as significant energy savings. The most common dimming control is the phase-cut dimmer, often referred to as the TRIAC dimmer, whether the device in question contains an actual TRIAC semiconductor device or not (many newer controls do not). Interfacing the phase-cut dimmer to compact fluorescent and now LED-based lamps represents a significant design challenge. Te results have not always been promising; many lamps on the market today display a severely limited dimming range or even flicker. National Semiconductor, Cree, and Arrow Electronics have teamed up to deliver a solution that enables efficient, dimmable solid-state lighting from traditional phase-cut dimmers.