Nanowire LEDs require combination modelling

LEDs based on nanowire structures could enable flexible devices, and displays covering a wider range of colours, as well as easing lattice mismatch strains when integrating with silicon. Despite the progress made from investigations of these devices over the past 15 years, further theoretical and computational studies are needed to understand how they can be optimized. Researchers in Finland and Sweden have now demonstrated that certain common assumptions when modelling planar LEDs are not valid for their nanowire counterparts and that sophisticated models are needed that integrate both electronic and wave optic effects.