Quantum dot (QD) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are ideal for large-panel displays because of their excellent efficiency, colour purity, reliability and cost-effective fabrication1-4. Intensive efforts have produced red-, green- and blue-emitting QD-LEDs with efficiencies of 20.5 per cent4, 21.0 per cent5 and 19.8 per cent6, respectively, but it is still desirable to improve the operating stability of the devices and to replace their toxic cadmium composition with a more environmentally benign alternative. The performance of indium phosphide (InP)-based materials and devices has remained far behind those of their Cd-containing counterparts. Here we present a synthetic method of preparing a uniform InP core and a highly symmetrical core/shell QD with a quantum yield of approximately 100 per cent. In particular, we add hydrofluoric acid to etch out the oxidative InP core surface during the growth of the initial ZnSe shell and then we enable high-temperature ZnSe growth at 340 degrees Celsius. The engineered shell thickness suppresses energy transfer and Auger recombination in order to maintain high luminescence efficiency, and the initial surface ligand is replaced with a shorter one for better charge injection. The optimized InP/ZnSe/ZnS QD-LEDs showed a theoretical maximum external quantum efficiency of 21.4 per cent, a maximum brightness of 100,000 candelas per square metre and an extremely long lifetime of a million hours at 100 candelas per square metre, representing a performance comparable to that of state-of-the-art Cd-containing QD-LEDs. These as-prepared InP-based QD-LEDs could soon be usable in commercial displays.

Highly efficient and stable InP/ZnSe/ZnS quantum dot light-emitting diodes

Micro-light-emitting diodes (μ-LEDs) are regarded as the cornerstone of next-generation display technology to meet the personalised demands of advanced applications, such as mobile phones, wearable watches, virtual/augmented reality, micro-projectors and ultrahigh-definition TVs. However, as the LED chip size shrinks to below 20 μm, conventional phosphor colour conversion cannot present sufficient luminance and yield to support high-resolution displays due to the low absorption cross-section. The emergence of quantum dot (QD) materials is expected to fill this gap due to their remarkable photoluminescence, narrow bandwidth emission, colour tuneability, high quantum yield and nanoscale size, providing a powerful full-colour solution for μ-LED displays. Here, we comprehensively review the latest progress concerning the implementation of μ-LEDs and QDs in display technology, including μ-LED design and fabrication, large-scale μ-LED transfer and QD full-colour strategy. Outlooks on QD stability, patterning and deposition and challenges of μ-LED displays are also provided. Finally, we discuss the advanced applications of QD-based μ-LED displays, showing the bright future of this technology. Micrometre-sized light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on quantum dots (QDs) will propel the next generation of display technologies, a review by leading researchers shows. Conventional LED designs, with phosphor coatings that convert light to different colours, are difficult to make smaller than 20 micrometres. Jr-Hau He at City University of Hong Kong and co-workers explain how this problem can be tackled using QDs, tiny particles whose optical properties can be tuned by varying their size, providing brighter and more precise colours. Ultra-high-resolution displays based on phospholuminescent QD-LEDs are now being released to the market thanks to finely-controlled methods for synthesising QDs and depositing them onto films. Further research should focus on the best ways to stabilise and protect QD films within LEDs, and to continue developing electroluminescent QD-LEDs, which could potentially outperform their phospholuminescent cousins.

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Micro-light-emitting diodes with quantum dots in display technology

Colloidal quantum dots are promising emitters for quantum-dot-based light-emitting-diodes. Though quantum dots have been synthesized with efficient, stable, and high colour-purity photoluminescence, inheriting their superior luminescent properties in light-emitting-diodes remains challenging. This is commonly attributed to unbalanced charge injection and/or interfacial exciton quenching in the devices. Here, a general but previously overlooked degradation channel in light-emitting-diodes, i.e., operando electrochemical reactions of surface ligands with injected charge carriers, is identified. We develop a strategy of applying electrochemically-inert ligands to quantum dots with excellent luminescent properties to bridge their photoluminescence-electroluminescence gap. This material-design principle is general for boosting electroluminescence efficiency and lifetime of the light-emitting-diodes, resulting in record-long operational lifetimes for both red-emitting light-emitting-diodes (T95 > 3800 h at 1000 cd m−2) and blue-emitting light-emitting-diodes (T50 > 10,000 h at 100 cd m−2). Our study provides a critical guideline for the quantum dots to be used in optoelectronic and electronic devices. New design principles for bridging the photoluminescence and electroluminescence of colloidal quantum dots are needed. In this work, the authors report electrochemically-inert ligands as a general material-design strategy for realizing high-performance LEDs based on quantum dots.

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Electrochemically-stable ligands bridge the photoluminescence-electroluminescence gap of quantum dots.

In vivo imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000-1700 nm), which enables us to look deeply into living subjects, is producing marvelous opportunities for biomedical research and clinical applications. Very recently, there has been an upsurge of interdisciplinary studies focusing on developing versatile types of inorganic/organic fluorophores that can be used for noninvasive NIR-IIa/IIb imaging (NIR-IIa, 1300-1400 nm; NIR-IIb, 1500-1700 nm) with near-zero tissue autofluorescence and deeper tissue penetration. This review provides an overview of the reports published to date on the design, properties, molecular imaging, and theranostics of inorganic/organic NIR-IIa/IIb fluorophores. First, we summarize the design concepts of the up-to-date functional NIR-IIa/IIb biomaterials, in the order of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), quantum dots (QDs), rare-earth-doped nanoparticles (RENPs), and organic fluorophores (OFs). Then, these novel imaging modalities and versatile biomedical applications brought by these superior fluorescent properties are reviewed. Finally, challenges and perspectives for future clinical translation, aiming at boosting the clinical application progress of NIR-IIa and NIR-IIb imaging technology are highlighted.

Versatile Types of Inorganic/Organic NIR-IIa/IIb Fluorophores: From Strategic Design toward Molecular Imaging and Theranostics.

This article offers a materials-chemistry perspective for colloidal quantum dots (QDs) in the field of display, including QD-enhanced liquid-crystal-display (QD-LCD) and QD-based light-emitting-diodes (QLEDs) display. The rapid successes of QDs for display in the past five years are not accidental but have a deep root in both maturity of their synthetic chemistry and their unique chemical, optical, and optoelectronic properties. This article intends to discuss the natural match of QD emitters for display and chemical means to eventually bring about their full potential.

Quantum Dots for Display Applications.

We introduce stoichiometry control within both core and shell regions of InP/ZnSe/ZnS core/shell/shell quantum dots (QDs) to advance their properties drastically, approaching those of state-of-the-art CdSe-based QDs. The resulting QDs possess near-unity photoluminescence quantum yield, monoexponential decay dynamics, narrow line width, and nonblinking at a single-dot level. Quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) with the InP/ZnSe/ZnS core/shell/shell QDs as emitters exhibit a peak external quantum efficiency of 12.2% and a maximum brightness of >10 000 cd m–2, greatly exceeding those of the Cd/Pb-free QLEDs reported in literature. These results pave the way toward Cd/Pb-free QDs as outstanding optical and optoelectronic materials.

Zhenlei Yao

Papers

Stoichiometry-Controlled InP-Based Quantum Dots: Synthesis, Photoluminescence, and Electroluminescence.