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Wafer-scale monolithic integration of full-colour micro-LED display using MoS2 transistor

Nature Nanotechnology volume 17, pages 500–506 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Large-scale growth of transition metal dichalcogenides and their subsequent integration with compound semiconductors is one of the major obstacles for two-dimensional materials implementation in optoelectronics applications such as active matrix displays or optical sensors. Here we present a novel transition metal dichalcogenide-on-compound-semiconductor fabrication method that is compatible with a batch microfabrication process. We show how a thin film of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) can be directly synthesized on a gallium-nitride-based epitaxial wafer to form a thin film transistor array. Subsequently, the MoS2 thin film transistor was monolithically integrated with micro-light-emitting-diode (micro-LED) devices to produce an active matrix micro-LED display. In addition, we demonstrate a simple approach to obtain red and green colours through the printing of quantum dots on a blue micro-LED, which allows for the scalable fabrication of full-colour micro-LED displays. This strategy represents a promising route to attain heterogeneous integration, which is essential for high-performance optoelectronic systems that can incorporate the established semiconductor technology and emerging two-dimensional materials.

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Fig. 1: Monolithic integration of MoS2 transistor and GaN-based full-colour micro-LED display.
Fig. 2: Optical and electrical properties of the bilayer MoS2 grown on the GaN wafer.
Fig. 3: Batch fabrication of MoS2-TFT-integrated micro-LEDs and their electrical properties.
Fig. 4: The operation of full-colour active matrix micro-LED display using MoS2 TFT and QDs.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within these paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Korean government (the Ministry of Science and ICT; NRF-2015R1A3A2066337) and the Yonsei Signature Research Cluster Program.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Sumin Hwangbo, Luhing Hu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Sumin Hwangbo, Luhing Hu, Anh Tuan Hoang, Jae Yong Choi & Jong-Hyun Ahn

Authors
  1. Sumin Hwangbo
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  2. Luhing Hu
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Contributions

J.-H.A. planned and supervised the project. S.H. and L.H. conducted most of the experiments regarding the device fabrication and characterized the optoelectronic properties of the devices. A.T.H synthesized the MoS2 on the GaN wafer, and J.Y.C. supported the experiments. All authors analysed the data and wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jong-Hyun Ahn.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Nanotechnology thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–23 and Tables 1 and 2.

Supplementary Video 1

Active matrix micro-LED display by use of MoS2 transistor.

Supplementary Video 2

A 100 ppi active matrix micro-LED display on a 2 inch sapphire substrate.

Supplementary Video 3

A 508 ppi active matrix micro-LED display.

Supplementary Video 4

Full-colour active matrix micro-LED display.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Optical properties of MoS2.

Source Data Fig. 2

Optical and electrical properties of MoS2.

Source Data Fig. 3

Electrical properties of MoS2-TFT-integrated micro-LED.

Source Data Fig. 4

Electrical properties of MoS2-TFT-integrated micro-LED.

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Hwangbo, S., Hu, L., Hoang, A.T. et al. Wafer-scale monolithic integration of full-colour micro-LED display using MoS2 transistor. Nat. Nanotechnol. 17, 500–506 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01102-7

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