Materials could make for super LEDs, solar cells, computer chips

December 3, 2003 | Source: KurzweilAI

Engineers at Ohio State University have created special hybrid materials that are virtually defect-free — an important first step for making ultra-efficient electronics in the future.

They grow thin films of “III-V” semiconductors, which absorb and emit light much more efficiently than silicon, so these materials could bridge the gap between traditional silicon computer chips and light-related technologies, such as lasers, displays, and fiber optics.

The engineers have crafted the III-V material into one-square-inch versions of solar cells in the laboratory and achieved 17 percent efficiency at converting light to electricity. They have also built bright light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on silicon substrates that have a display quality comparable to that of traditional LEDs.

Ohio State University press release