Organizing atoms in Zn(Sn,Ge)N2 tunes properties for improving LEDs

What is it about?

Current semiconductors used in LEDs rely on a particular chemistry to emit light. They are limited to strong emission of reds and blues and including greens and yellows requires more electricity and a series of light filtering layers. By replacing some of the atoms in these materials to include slightly more types of atoms, these materials can be tuned to emit specific colors without the use of filters and thus requiring less energy. These new materials are not as thoroughly understood as commercial semiconductors today. This paper demonstrates the relationships among the organization of atoms in a lattice with the properties targeted for controlling the emission of LEDs.

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Photo by Zishan khan on Unsplash

Photo by Zishan khan on Unsplash

Why is it important?

We highlight the relationships between crystal structure and material properties for semiconducting material that can be used to improve the energy efficiency and light tunability of LEDs.