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PEAPLE - Electron pumping of AlGaN nanostructures for the development of UV emitters

Published on 8 March 2022


Summary:
The PEAPLE project aims to establish a new ecological UV technology based on electron-beam-pumping of AlGaN semiconductor nanostructures. The strong demand for UV sources (sterilization, industrial drying, water purification, communications without direct line of sight ...) is now satisfied by mercury lamps, despite their highly toxic impact on humans and environment. The use of mercury is severely limited by EU directives, which has led to intensive research to develop UV light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as an alternative mercury-free technology. However, the performance of the UV LED is still well below the usual mercury lamp standards, intrinsically limited by the resistance of the semiconductor and by poor electrical injection. In this project, these material problems are overcome with the use of electron beam pumping, which provides efficient injection of charge carriers throughout the active region of the material without the need for doping or electrical contacts [More information].



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