Imec paves way for perovskite laser

Imec researchers have demonstrated that it’s possible to construct a laser based on perovskites. In an article published in Nature Photonics, they describe an LED architecture with low optical losses that can be pumped to current densities high enough to support the stimulated emission of light.

Although not yet a widespread commercial technology, perovskites have been making a name for themselves in solar cells. With excellent optoelectrical properties, low-cost processability and efficient charge transport, these materials are interesting candidates for light emission applications as well, such as LEDs and, ultimately, lasers.

However, while perovskites can withstand very high current densities, laser operation with the emission of high-intensity coherent light hasn’t been reached yet. By constructing a perovskite LED stack emitting light a thousand times brighter than state-of-the-art OLEDs, Imec is getting close, though. “With this architecture, we enhanced amplified spontaneous emission, with an electrical assist of the conventional optical pumping. By doing so, we demonstrated that electrical injection contributes 13 percent to the total amount of stimulated emission and thus approaches the threshold to achieve a thin-film injection laser,” explained Robert Gehlhaar, Imec project manager.

Thin-film injection lasers are useful for image projection, environmental sensing, medical diagnostics and other applications.