University of Manchester and University of Sheffield researchers have managed to produce first graphene-based LED display that will pave the way for efficient, flexible and semi-transparent electronic devices.

The research, published in scientific journal Nature Materials, shows how Graphene displays and related 2D materials could be utilised to create light emitting devices for the next-generation of mobile phones, tablets and televisions to make them incredibly thin and durable.

The team, led by Nobel Laureate Sir Kostya Novoselov, made the breakthrough by creating LEDs which were engineered on an atomic level. The LED device was constructed by combining different 2D crystals and emits light from across its whole surface. Being so thin, at only 10-40 atoms thick, these new components can form the basis for the first generation of semi-transparent smart devices.

One-atom thick graphene was first isolated and explored in 2004 at The University of Manchester. Its potential uses are vast but one of the first areas in which products are likely to be seen was in electronics.

Other 2D materials, such as boron nitiride and molybdenum disulphide, have since been discovered opening up vast new areas of research and applications possibilities.

Freddie Withers, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at The University of Manchester, who led the production of the devices, said: “As our new type of LED’s only consist of a few atomic layers of 2D materials they are flexible and transparent. We envisage a new generation of optoelectronic devices to stem from this work, from simple transparent lighting and lasers and to more complex applications.”

Prof Alexander Tartakovskii, from The University of Sheffield added: “The novel LED structures are robust and show no significant change in performance over many weeks of measurements.”