Lee, Sung Dan | Search NASA

DOE OSTI2014

Temperature- and size-dependent characteristics in ultrathin inorganic light-emitting diodes assembled by transfer printing

Favorable temperature- and size-dependent device characteristics in mechanically flexible, thin (~6.45 μm thick), microscale inorganic InGaN/GaN-based light-emitting diodes enable their use as highly efficient, robust devices that are capable of integration on diverse classes of unconventional substrates, including sheets of plastic. Here, finite element analysis and systematic studies of the operational properties establish important thermal, electrical, and optical considerations for this type of device.

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DOE OSTI2013

Injectable, Cellular-Scale Optoelectronics with Applications for Wireless Optogenetics

Successful integration of advanced semiconductor devices with biological systems will accelerate basic scientific discoveries and their translation into clinical technologies. In neuroscience generally, and in optogenetics in particular, the ability to insert light sources, detectors, sensors, and other components into precise locations of the deep brain yields versatile and important capabilities. Here, we introduce an injectable class of cellular-scale optoelectronics that offers such features, with examples of unmatched operational modes in optogenetics, including completely wireless and programmed complex behavioral control over freely moving animals. Furthermore, the ability of these ultrathin, mechanically compliant, biocompatible devices to afford minimally invasive operation in the soft tissues of the mammalian brain foreshadow applications in other organ systems, with potential for broad utility in biomedical science and engineering.

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