Researchers from the Laboratoire d’optique appliquée (CNRS, ENSTA Paris, École polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris) have just co-authored a paper in Nature Photonics describing the development of a light-emitting diode (LED) emitting in the mid-infrared, a world first.
These LEDs are based on a technology of quantum boxes, semiconductor nanostructures. They emit in the spectral range beyond two microns, for which no LED has existed until now.
This mid-infrared LED opens up revolutionary application prospects, for example in the guidance of autonomous vehicles or quality control in the food industry. Quantum dots will reduce the costs associated with infrared technologies, paving the way for a true democratization of applications of all associated technologies.
