Light Emitting Diodes based on all-evaporated, inorganic perovskite layers

In recent years, lead halide perovskites have attracted significant attention from the scientific community due to their exceptional optoelectronic properties, including defect tolerance, a high absorption coefficient, and long charge carrier lifetimes. While much of the research has focused on perovskite-based solar cells—achieving power conversion efficiencies comparable to traditional silicon solar cells—perovskites also offer additional advantages such as bandgap tuning by tunning the perovskite composition. These characteristics have expanded the potential applications of perovskites to include photodetectors, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and lasers.
 
Our group specializes in the fabrication and characterization of all-inorganic perovskite-based optoelectronic devices deposited via thermal evaporation. Unlike organic counterparts like MAPbI3, all-inorganic perovskites (such as CsPbI-2Br) exhibit improved chemical stability and higher resilience at elevated temperatures, which facilitates their integration with current CMOS technology. In addition, while many research groups focus on solution-based methods like spin-coating, our group utilizes vacuum thermal evaporation for depositing perovskite layers. This method ensures the formation of layers with greater purity and uniformity — qualities that are highly desirable for industrial applications.  
 
For the past 5+ years, our group has been extensively studying the properties and growth conditions of evaporated perovskite layers for applications in photodetectors. We are now exploring new avenues to further expand the application of our films to LEDs. Recently, we have demonstrated that our films, besides detecting, can also emit light, and the next key step is developing a fully evaporated perovskite-based LED with an optimized external quantum efficiency (EQE). This will involve tunning the thickness of both the active and transport layers as well as carefully selecting the contact materials.  
 
The goal of the internship/master’s thesis project will be to support this development. After a short period of training, the selected candidate will be able to work independently in a lab and fab environment and fabricate microelectronic devices from start to finish.  On top of that, the candidate will gain experience in a wide variety of optical, structural, and electrical measurements. An international team of experienced researchers will be present to provide continuous support and guidance. The ideal candidate is a hands-on person in a lab environment, with a proven record of problem-solving and data analysis. Given the international character of imec, an excellent knowledge of English is a prerequisite. 

Type of Project: Combination of internship and thesis; Thesis; Internship 

Master's degree: Master of Engineering Technology; Master of Science; Master of Engineering Science 

Master program: Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Electrotechnics/Electrical Engineering; Materials Engineering; Nanoscience & Nanotechnology; Physics 

Duration: 6 months 

Supervisor: Jan Genoe (EE, Nano) 

For more information or application, please contact Isabel Pintor Monroy (isabel.pintormonroy@imec.be).

Imec allowance will be provided for students studying at a non-Belgian university.