Micro light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) are the future of display technology, promising bright, energy-efficient screens for optical communication, augmented and virtual reality, and wearable devices.
A key material for advancing these displays is metal-halide perovskites, known for their excellent light-emission properties and potential for easy manufacturing.
However, creating thin-film perovskites for micro-LEDs has proven challenging. The materials often emit light unevenly, and their surfaces can become unstable during production processes like lithography.
These issues have made it difficult to use perovskites in micro-LED displays—until now.
A team of researchers led by Professor Wu Yuchen at the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a groundbreaking method to overcome these problems.
Their innovative remote epitaxial growth technique allows for the creation of continuous, single-crystalline perovskite thin films.
This research, published in Nature Nanotechnology on January 15, 2025, opens the door to ultrahigh-resolution micro-LED displays with pixels smaller than 5 micrometers.
Using a graphene interlayer, the team was able to grow smooth, crystal-clear perovskite films over a 4 cm² area. These films are free of grain boundaries—tiny defects that often disrupt light emission—and have a perfectly aligned crystal structure.
With these advanced perovskite films, the researchers achieved impressive performance for micro-LEDs:
- Electroluminescence efficiency of 16.1%
- Brightness of 400,000 cd/m²
- Ultrahigh resolution with a pixel size as small as 4 micrometers
These thin films can also be easily integrated with commercial electronic platforms, allowing for precise, independent control of each pixel. This means the technology can display both static images and high-quality video content.
The method also enables the creation of full-color micro-LED displays by combining different perovskite materials. Furthermore, the films can be combined with advanced nanophotonic structures, like resonant metasurfaces and photonic crystals, leading to the development of compact photonic devices.
This breakthrough in perovskite technology could revolutionize how micro-LED displays are made, paving the way for sharper, brighter, and more energy-efficient screens. The ability to produce ultrahigh-resolution displays with such small pixels could transform applications in virtual reality, augmented reality, and wearable tech.
By solving long-standing challenges in manufacturing, this new technique brings the next generation of displays closer to reality. As Professor Wu and his team have demonstrated, the future of displays is not only bright—it’s crystal clear.
