Graphene infrared light emitting diode (GILED)

TL;DR

This paper proposes a graphene-based infrared light emitting diode (GILED) that utilizes the unique electronic properties of layered graphene structures to produce infrared photons through electron decay.

Contribution

It introduces a novel device design using layered graphene with tunable bandgap for efficient infrared light emission.

Findings

Device operates by tuning gate voltage to control bandgap.

Infrared photons emitted when electrons decay in the device.

Potential for tunable infrared light sources.

Abstract

The present Letter proposes a device based on graphene for infrared light emission. It is based on a n- and p-doped monolayer graphene (MGs), with Fermi energies $E_F$ and -$E_F$, respectively, sandwiching a bilayer graphene (BG) with bandgap $\Lambda=2|eV_g-\Delta|\geq 2E_F$, where $V_g$ is the gate voltage across the BG and $\Delta$ the sub-lattice energy difference into each layer of the BG. This device works as simple as tuning the gate voltage to decrease the BG bandgap down to $2E_F$; and, once this condition is fulfilled, a current flows from the n-doped MG to the p-doped MG. However, when electrons achieve the other side of the device, i.e., into the p-doped MG, their energies ($E_F$) are much bigger than the holes energies ($-E_F$), and thus these electrons decay emitting infrared photons.