Imagine wallpaper that glows like natural sunlight or a phone screen that’s easy on your eyes even at night.
Scientists have now developed a paper-thin LED that does just that—emitting a warm, sun-like glow that could revolutionize lighting and display technology.
The new device, created by researchers in China and described in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, mimics the full spectrum of sunlight much better than conventional LEDs.
This breakthrough could lead to eye-friendly computer and phone screens, adaptive indoor lighting, and even specialized light sources for plant growth and human well-being.
“This work demonstrates the feasibility of ultra-thin, large-area quantum dot LEDs that closely match the solar spectrum,” said Professor Xianghua Wang, one of the lead authors of the study.
“These devices could enable next-generation displays and lighting systems that are both efficient and comfortable for human eyes.”
Traditional light bulbs and LEDs often struggle to reproduce the natural balance of sunlight, especially in the yellow and green parts of the spectrum where sunlight is strongest.
Many LED lights emit an excess of blue light, which can disturb sleep and strain the eyes after long exposure. Some previous designs used special dyes to create warmer light, but they were bulky and less efficient.
To overcome these problems, the team turned to quantum dots—tiny semiconductor particles only a few nanometers wide that can emit highly pure colors.
The researchers synthesized red, yellow-green, and blue quantum dots, each coated in a thin zinc-sulfur shell to improve stability.
By carefully adjusting the mix of the three colors, they produced light that most closely matched the natural spectrum of sunlight.
Next, the team built a quantum dot LED (QLED) on a glass base coated with indium tin oxide—a transparent, electrically conductive material.
They added several ultra-thin layers: conductive polymers, the quantum dot mixture, metal oxide particles, and finally a thin sheet of aluminum or silver. The resulting LED was just a few tens of nanometers thick, about as thin as wallpaper, yet capable of producing bright, natural-looking light.
When powered at about 11.5 volts, the device emitted a warm white glow with stronger red and softer blue tones—ideal for reducing eye strain and supporting healthy sleep cycles.
The color accuracy was impressive, with a color rendering index (CRI) above 92%, meaning objects appear nearly as they do under real sunlight.
In further tests, the team built 26 similar QLEDs and optimized their materials so they needed only 8 volts to reach peak brightness.
Most of them easily surpassed the light output needed for computer displays, proving that this thin and efficient lighting technology could soon power the next generation of screens, lamps, and indoor light panels—bringing a touch of sunlight to the spaces where we need it most.
