LED lights are “the future driver of internet and data transmission”

26 Jul 2023

UK researchers explain how to release high-speed photonic sources using metal-halide perovskites.

A newly-published study led by the universities of Surrey and Cambridge, both UK, has investigated how to release high-speed photonic sources using metal-halide perovskites. These are semiconductors being researched with LEDs for their “excellent optoelectronic properties and low-cost processing methods”.

The work is described in Nature Photonics.

Dr Wei Zhang, lead corresponding author of the study and associate professor at University of Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute, commented, “In our study we have made a huge leap forward and shown how metal-halide perovskites could provide a cost-efficient and powerful solution to make LEDs which have enormous potential to increase their bandwidths into the gigahertz levels.”

Perovskite detectors and CW-pumped perovskite lasers

He added, “Moreover, our investigations will accelerate the development of high-speed perovskite photodetectors and continuous wave pumped perovskite lasers, thus opening up new avenues for advancements in optoelectronic technologies.”

Hao Wang, co-first author and Ph.D. student at the University of Cambridge, said, “We provided the first study to elucidate the mechanisms behind achieving high-speed perovskite LEDs, which represents a significant step toward the realisation of perovskite light sources for next-generation data communications.

“The ability to achieve solution-processed perovskite emitters on silicon substrates also paves the way for their integration with micro-electronics platforms, presenting new opportunities for seamless integration and advancement in the field of data communications.”

The research was a collaborative project with the support over 10 laboratories and research institutes from Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Warwick, UCL, EMPA and UESTC.