The graphene display and LEDs created at an atomic level
Graphene had a hard time lately. After many years of astounded reports about its potential as a durable solution for logic circuits (computer processors and memory), the interest for this basic research and the problems it raised did not come up with a solution. Anyway, this does not mean that grapheme cannot be used for electronics applications.
This all new project is very different from other demonstrations of graphene technology. As an example, the Cambridge Graphene Centre showed a display that has a graphene electrode. So, the new LEDs obtained by the University of Manchester in this investigation were designed at an atomic level from various layers of crystal lattice.
This kind of setting implements various layers of materials placed horizontally, but because of the fact that each grid is only a few atoms thick, the display obtained is semi-transparent, amazingly thin and, as the research team stated, semi-flexible and a long-term choice. The application of this brand new technology could be in optoelectronics. Electron movement is regulated by a quantum well which represents a layer of material that limits the movement of electrons to a certain dimension in order to guarantee that the energy arrives where is meant to go.
A major disadvantage that comes when working with many advanced material is their stability. Although, this graphene design is innovative. The University of Manchester team acknowledged the fact that the graphene based LEDs continued to be strong and to emit light for many weeks.
The team says that those brand new LEDs can discharge light across the whole surface and can reach effectiveness that can be compared with the organic LEDs in terms of quantum efficiency.
Still, there is an open question: will graphene based LED technology replace OLED? OLEDs are common in some Samsung displays. Anyway, OLED has one important vendor: LG, who offers important support, but it is not enough for a long-term predicament.
It is not established if graphene LEDs can become the same thing that made OLEDs desirable. We need to take into account the long time between the research and the actual commercialization. So, we are basically talking about advances that could take five to ten years before actually finding their ways to the market.