Abstract
ELECTROLUMINESCENT devices have been developed recently that are based on new materials such as porous silicon1 and semiconducting polymers2,3. By taking advantage of developments in the preparation and characterization of direct-gap semiconductor nanocrystals4–6, and of electroluminescent polymers7, we have now constructed a hybrid organic/inorganic electroluminescent device. Light emission arises from the recombination of holes injected into a layer of semiconducting p-paraphenylene vinylene (PPV)8–10 with electrons injected into a multilayer film of cadmium selenide nanocrystals. Close matching of the emitting layer of nanocrystals with the work function of the metal contact leads to an operating voltage11 of only 4V. At low voltages emission from the CdSe layer occurs. Because of the quantum size effect19–24 the colour of this emission can be varied from red to yellow by changing the nanocrystal size. At higher voltages green emission from the polymer layer predominates. Thus this device has a degree of voltage tunability of colour.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bsiesy, A. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 637–640 (1993).
Burroughes, J. H. et al. Nature 347, 539–541 (1990).
Greenham, N. C., Moratti, S. C., Bradley, D. D. C., Holmes, A. B. & Friend, R. H. Nature 365, 628–630 (1993).
Steigerwald, M. L. et al. J. Am. chem. Soc. 110, 3046–3050 (1988).
Murray, C. B., Norris, D. B. & Bawendi, M. G. J. Am. chem. Soc. 115, 8706 (1993).
Bowen Katari, J. E., Colvin, V. L. & Alivisatos, A. P. J. phys. Chem. 98, 4109 (1994).
Bradley, D. D. C. Synthetic Metals 54, 401–415 (1993).
Burn, P. L. et al. Nature 356, 47–49 (1992).
Karg, S., Riess, W., Dyakonov, V. & Schwoerer, M. Synthetic Metals 54, 427–433 (1993).
Zhang, C., Braun, D. & Heeger, A. J. J. appl. Phys. 73, 5177–5180 (1993).
Parker, I. D. J. appl. Phys. 75, 1656 (1994).
Colvin, V. L., Goldstein, A. N. & Alivisatos, A. P. J. Am. chem. Soc. 114, 5221–5230 (1992).
Brown, A. R. et al. Chem. Phys. Lett. 200, 46–54 (1992).
Brown, A. R. et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 61, 2793–2795 (1992).
Valeeva, I. L. & Lachinov, A. N. Synthetic Metals 55–57, 4151–4156 (1993).
Karg, S. Synthetic Metals 57, 4186–4191 (1993).
Quist, T. M. et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1, 91–93 (1961).
Canham, L. Nature 365, 695 (1994).
Rossetti, R., Hull, R., Gibson, J. M. & Brus, L. E. J. chem. Phys. 82, 552–559 (1985).
Bawendi, M. G., Carroll, P. J., Wilson, W. L. & Brus, L. E. J. chem. Phys. 96, 946–954 (1992).
Brus, L. J. phys. Chem. 90, 2555–2560 (1986).
Ekimov, A. I. et al. J. opt. Soc. B1O, 100–107 (1992).
Dannhauser, T., O'Neil, M., Johannson, K., Whitten, D. & McLendon, G. J. phys. Chem. 90, 6074–6076 (1986).
Hasselbarth, A., Eychmuller, A. & Weller, H. Chem. Phys. Lett. 203, 271–276 (1993).
Sze, S. M. Physics of Semiconductor Devices (Wiley, New York, 1981).
Colvin, V. L., Alivisatos, A. P. & Tobin, J. G. Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 2786–2789 (1991).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Colvin, V., Schlamp, M. & Alivisatos, A. Light-emitting diodes made from cadmium selenide nanocrystals and a semiconducting polymer. Nature 370, 354–357 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/370354a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/370354a0
This article is cited by
-
Stable and efficient pure blue quantum-dot LEDs enabled by inserting an anti-oxidation layer
Nature Communications (2024)
-
Vapour-deposited perovskite light-emitting diodes
Nature Reviews Materials (2024)
-
In-situ template synthesis of ZnSe-hyperbranched poly(arylene ether ketone) composite photoluminescence materials
Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics (2024)
-
Large-Area Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes Employing Sputtered Zn0.85Mg0.15O Electron Transport Material
Electronic Materials Letters (2024)
-
The Zn1−xMgxO electron transport layer for charge balance in high-brightness inverted quantum-dot light-emitting diodes
Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics (2024)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.