Light sources with bias tunable spectrum based on van der Waals interface transistors

TL;DR

This paper introduces van der Waals interface transistors capable of electrically tuning the spectrum of emitted light, offering a versatile platform for advanced optoelectronic applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel approach to achieve broad spectral tuning in electroluminescent devices using atomically thin semiconductor interfaces and bias control.

Findings

Large spectral changes in electroluminescence at room temperature

Spectral tuning achieved through material selection and bias adjustment

Device fabrication compatible with large-area production

Abstract

Light-emitting electronic devices are ubiquitous in key areas of current technology, such as data communications, solid-state lighting, displays, and optical interconnects. Controlling the spectrum of the emitted light electrically, by simply acting on the device bias conditions, is an important goal with potential technological repercussions. However, identifying a material platform enabling broad electrical tuning of the spectrum of electroluminescent devices remains challenging. Here, we propose light-emitting field-effect transistors based on van der Waals interfaces of atomically thin semiconductors as a promising class of devices to achieve this goal. We demonstrate that large spectral changes in room-temperature electroluminescence can be controlled both at the device assembly stage -- by suitably selecting the material forming the interfaces -- and on-chip, by changing the bias to modify the device operation point. Even though the precise relation between device bias and kinetics of the radiative transitions remains to be understood, our experiments show that the physical mechanism responsible for light emission is robust, making these devices compatible with simple large areas device production methods.