Ultra-bright LEDs and lasers have become a part of our lives and are used both for conventional lighting and in various types of measuring electronics. Production technologies using thin-film structures could take these semiconductor devices to a new level. For example, thin film transistors have made liquid crystal panel technology ubiquitous and accessible in a way that would not have been possible with discrete transistors alone.
In Europe, the task of developing a technology for the production of thin-film LEDs and semiconductor lasers was assigned to the famous Belgian microelectronics scientist Paul Heremans. The pan-European Council European Research Council (ERC), which distributes funds for promising developments in Europe, awarded Paul Hermans a grant for five years in the amount of 2,5 million euros. This is not the first ERC grant Hermans has received. During his career at the Belgian research center Imec, he led many successful projects in the field of semiconductor development, in particular, in 2012, Hermans received a grant for a project on the production of crystalline organic semiconductors.
Thin-film LEDs and lasers are also expected to be developed using organic materials. Today, thin-film LEDs have a brightness that is 300 times weaker than that of discrete ultra-bright LEDs based on materials from groups III-V of the periodic table. Hermans' goal will be to bring the brightness of thin-film structures closer to the capabilities of their discrete counterparts. At the same time, it will be possible to produce thin-film structures on thin and flexible substrates from a whole range of materials, including plastic, glass and metal foil.
Advancement on this front will make it possible to make a breakthrough in a host of promising areas. This includes silicon photonics, displays for augmented reality headsets, lidars for self-driving cars, spectrometers for individual diagnostic systems, and much, much more. Well, let's wish him good luck in his research and look forward to interesting news.
Source: 3dnews.ru