In this work, the team succeeded in making the first flexible green and blue LEDs based on nitrides. To do this, they inserted nitride nanowires into a polymer layer to create a flexible membrane that emits light when an electrical voltage is applied. These nanowires measure several hundred nanometers in diameter for about twenty micrometers in height, constituting an apparently homogeneous whole at our scale. They combine the brightness and long life of nitride-based LEDs with the flexibility of polymers.
Three reasons to reward this work, by Pascale Senellart, from the Centre de nanosciences et de nanotechnologies, in Marcoussis :
- This is a very good piece of research in nanotechnology, in a very competitive field where the potential applications and economic stakes are very high
- In this work, the researchers have already produced a two-color diode (blue and green). Using the same approach, they plan to add red, which will allow them to make deformable screens for phones or watches.
- This approach is very promising for other important technological issues: nanowire arrays are also very interesting systems for making solar cells.
