Nanocrystal LEDs Produce Light in the Ultraviolet Range

A multinational team of scientists has developed a process for creating glass-based, inorganic LEDs that produce light in the ultraviolet range. The work is a step toward biomedical devices with active components made from nanostructured systems. LEDs based on solution-processed inorganic nanocrystals have promise for use in environmental and biomedical diagnostics because they are inexpensive to produce, robust, and chemically stable. Development has been hampered by the difficulty of achieving ultraviolet emission. Led by Alberto Paleari at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy, the team developed a fabrication pro cess that overcomes this problem and opens the way for integration in a variety of applications.