MSU researchers secure significant DOE grant to ‘unfold the mystery of enhanced brightness’ in LEDs

Mississippi State University researchers are honing in on next-generation LED technology with a $708,506 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to study tailoring the brightness of lead halide perovskites—solid-state inorganic materials—which show promise in LEDs, solar cells and photodetectors.

Mahesh K. Gangishetty, an MSU assistant professor with appointments in both the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, leads the three-year grant in collaboration with co-principal investigator Neeraj Rai, an MSU professor of chemical engineering. The funding source is the DOE Office of Science’s Basic Energy Sciences program.

Lead halide perovskites are emerging hybrid materials for solid-state lighting—LEDs in display and lighting—applications, said Gangishetty.The presence of small impurity metal ions makes them brighter.

Rai said the global market for micro-LED display technology––found in cellphones and TV screens––is currently valued at several hundred million dollars and projected to grow to over $30 billion by 2030.