More efficient green-coloured LEDs are being developed at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with the help of a $1.8 million (£1.1 million) grant from the US Department of Energy.
Professor Christian Wetzel from the academic centre said the advancement of LED technology has followed a progression - from red to orange and, after considerable research efforts, blue LEDs.
While the holy grail of solid-state lighting is a true white LED, Professor Wetzel believes green is the key to achieving this.
"Developing a high-performance green LED would likely lead to a new generation of high-performance, energy-efficient display devices," he commented.
"The problem, however, is that green LEDs are much more difficult to create than I, or anyone else, imagined."
Professor Wetzel plans to use the funding to help close the green gap once and for all.
Since March 2004 he has served as the Future Chips Constellation Professor and Associate Professor of Physics at Rensselaer.