Assistant Professor of Physics Hanwei Gao, left, and Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering Biwu Ma, right, look at their new LED. Credit: Bruce Palmer/Florida State University
Florida State University materials researchers has developed a new type of LED, using an organic-inorganic hybrid, organometal halide perovskites, that could lead to cheaper, brighter and mass produced lights and displays in the future. Perovskites are any materials with the same type of crystal structure as calcium titanium oxide.
After months of experiments using synthetic chemistry to fine-tune the material properties and device engineering to control the device architectures, they ultimately created an LED that performed even better than expected. The material glowed exceptionally bright. It is measured at about 10,000 candelas/ sq m at a driving voltage of 12V – candelas are the unit of measurement for luminescence. As a benchmark, LEDs glowing at 400 candelas/ sq m are sufficiently bright for computer screens.
“Such exceptional brightness is, to a large extent, owing to the inherent high luminescent efficiency of this surface-treated, highly crystalline nanomaterial,” Gao said. It was also quick and easy to produce. Gao and Ma can produce the material in about an hour in the lab and have a full device created and tested in about half a day.
Additionally, while bare hybrid perovskites tend to be unstable in humid air, the nanostructured perovskites exhibit remarkable stability in ambient environment because of the purposely designed surface chemistry. Such chemical stability largely reduces the requirement of sophisticated infrastructure to produce this new type of LEDs and could be of huge benefit for cost-effective manufacturing in the future.
The research is crucial to the advance of LED technology, which is fast becoming an avenue to reduce the country’s electric consumption. LED lighting is already sold in stores, but widespread adoption has been slow because of the costs associated with the material and the quality. But, LED lights do save energy. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, residential LED lighting uses at least 75% less energy than incandescent. http://www.newswise.com/articles/researchers-create-cheaper-high-performing-led
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