Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

A three-terminal light emitting and detecting diode

Nature Electronics volume 7, pages 279–287 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Two-terminal devices are building blocks for modern electronic systems. However, the typical two-terminal architecture can limit functionality and performance. Here we report a multifunctional three-terminal diode that consists of a traditional two-terminal gallium nitride-based p‒n diode with a monolithically integrated third terminal (Tt) composed of metal/Al2O3 dielectric layer directly on the p-layer. When the three-terminal diode operates as an emitter, the light intensity can be tuned by adjusting the bias applied to the Tt, and its modulation bandwidth can be increased from 160 MHz in the original p‒n diode to 263 MHz due to the integrated bias tee function enabled by the Tt. When it operates as a photodetector, both the applied voltage on the Tt and the incident light act as signal inputs that control the magnitude of output photocurrent, providing reconfigurable optoelectronic NAND and NOR logic gates.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Fabrication of the TTD.
Fig. 2: Electrical and optical characteristics of the TTD.
Fig. 3: Implementation of three-terminal LEDs in the OWC system.
Fig. 4: Implementation of three-terminal PDs for OELGs.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

References

  1. Kneissl, M., Seong, T.-Y., Han, J. & Amano, H. The emergence and prospects of deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diode technologies. Nat. Photonics 13, 233–244 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Pistore, V. et al. Millimeter wave photonics with terahertz semiconductor lasers. Nat. Commun. 12, 1427 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Yang, S. J. et al. Ultrafast 27 GHz cutoff frequency in vertical WSe2 Schottky diodes with extremely low contact resistance. Nat. Commun. 11, 1574 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Meng, L., You, J. & Yang, Y. Addressing the stability issue of perovskite solar cells for commercial applications. Nat. Commun. 9, 5265 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Wang, D. et al. Bidirectional photocurrent in p–n heterojunction nanowires. Nat. Electron. 4, 645–652 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Orji, N. G. et al. Metrology for the next generation of semiconductor devices. Nat. Electron. 1, 532–547 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Atabaki, A. H. et al. Integrating photonics with silicon nanoelectronics for the next generation of systems on a chip. Nature 556, 349–354 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Elshaari, A. W., Pernice, W., Srinivasan, K., Benson, O. & Zwiller, V. Hybrid integrated quantum photonic circuits. Nat. Photonics 14, 285–298 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Salahuddin, S., Ni, K. & Datta, S. The era of hyper-scaling in electronics. Nat. Electron. 1, 442–450 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Khan, A. I., Keshavarzi, A. & Datta, S. The future of ferroelectric field-effect transistor technology. Nat. Electron. 3, 588–597 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Convertino, C. et al. A hybrid III–V tunnel FET and MOSFET technology platform integrated on silicon. Nat. Electron. 4, 162–170 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Jeon, S. et al. Gated three-terminal device architecture to eliminate persistent photoconductivity in oxide semiconductor photosensor arrays. Nat. Mater. 11, 301–305 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ye, D. et al. A three-terminal ultraviolet photodetector constructed on a barrier-modulated triple-layer architecture. Sci. Rep. 6, 26169 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Liu, C. et al. Small footprint transistor architecture for photoswitching logic and in situ memory. Nat. Nanotechnol. 14, 662–667 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Liang, D., Huang, X., Kurczveil, G., Fiorentino, M. & Beausoleil, R. Integrated finely tunable microring laser on silicon. Nat. Photonics 10, 719–722 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Tossoun, B., Sheng, X., Strachan, J. & Liang, D. The memristor laser. In Proc. 2020 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) (ed. Peterson, B.) 147–150 (IEEE, 2020).

  17. Dang, S., Amin, O., Shihada, B. & Alouini, M.-S. What should 6G be? Nat. Electron. 3, 20–29 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Huang, Y., Hsiang, E.-L., Deng, M.-Y. & Wu, S.-T. Mini-LED, micro-LED and OLED displays: present status and future perspectives. Light Sci. Appl. 9, 105 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Yoshida, K. et al. 245 MHz bandwidth organic light-emitting diodes used in a gigabit optical wireless data link. Nat. Commun. 11, 1171 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Tavakkolnia, I. et al. Organic photovoltaics for simultaneous energy harvesting and high-speed MIMO optical wireless communications. Light Sci. Appl. 10, 41 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Ren, A. et al. Emerging light-emitting diodes for next-generation data communications. Nat. Electron. 4, 559–572 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Chowdhury, M. Z., Hasan, M. K., Shahjalal, M., Hossan, M. T. & Jang, Y. M. Optical wireless hybrid networks: trends, opportunities, challenges, and research directions. IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor. 22, 930–966 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Bao, C. et al. Bidirectional optical signal transmission between two identical devices using perovskite diodes. Nat. Electron. 3, 156–164 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Baugher, B. W., Churchill, H. O., Yang, Y. & Jarillo-Herrero, P. Optoelectronic devices based on electrically tunable p–n diodes in a monolayer dichalcogenide. Nat. Nanotechnol. 9, 262–267 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Kim, W. et al. Perovskite multifunctional logic gates via bipolar photoresponse of single photodetector. Nat. Commun. 13, 720 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Kim, K. et al. Efficiency enhancement of InGaN/GaN blue light-emitting diodes with top surface deposition of AlN/Al2O3. Nano Energy 43, 259–269 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Mueller, T., Xia, F. & Avouris, P. Graphene photodetectors for high-speed optical communications. Nat. Photonics 4, 297–301 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Taoka, N., Kubo, T., Yamada, T., Egawa, T. & Shimizu, M. Impacts of oxidants in atomic layer deposition method on Al2O3/GaN interface properties. Jpn J. Appl. Phys. 57, 01AD04 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Cao, Z. et al. Reconfigurable beam system for non-line-of-sight free-space optical communication. Light Sci. Appl. 8, 69 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Ghassemlooy, Z., Arnon, S., Uysal, M., Xu, Z. & Cheng, J. Emerging optical wireless communications-advances and challenges. IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun. 33, 1738–1749 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Nami, M. et al. Carrier dynamics and electro-optical characterization of high-performance GaN/InGaN core-shell nanowire light-emitting diodes. Sci. Rep. 8, 501 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. He, X. et al. 1 Gbps free-space deep-ultraviolet communications based on III-nitride micro-LEDs emitting at 262 nm. Photonics Res. 7, B41–B47 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Qian, Z. et al. Size-dependent UV-C communication performance of AlGaN micro-LEDs and LEDs. J. Lightwave Technol. 40, 7289–7296 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Zhu, S. et al. 2 Gbps free-space ultraviolet-C communication based on a high-bandwidth micro-LED achieved with pre-equalization. Opt. Lett. 46, 2147–2150 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Sun, X. et al. 71-Mbit/s ultraviolet-B LED communication link based on 8-QAM-OFDM modulation. Opt. Express 25, 23267–23274 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Alkhazragi, O. et al. Gbit/s ultraviolet-C diffuse-line-of-sight communication based on probabilistically shaped DMT and diversity reception. Opt. Express 28, 9111–9122 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Kojima, K. et al. Self-organized micro-light-emitting diode structure for high-speed solar-blind optical wireless communications. Appl. Phys. Lett. 117, 031103 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Li, D. et al. Deep‐ultraviolet micro‐LEDs exhibiting high output power and high modulation bandwidth simultaneously. Adv. Mater. 34, 2109765 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Guo, L. et al. 275 nm deep ultraviolet AlGaN-based micro-LED arrays for ultraviolet communication. IEEE Photonics J. 14, 8202905 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Yu, H. et al. Deep‐ultraviolet LEDs incorporated with SiO2‐based microcavities toward high‐speed ultraviolet light communication. Adv. Opt. Mater. 10, 2201738 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Memon, M. H. et al. Quantum dots integrated deep-ultraviolet micro-LED array toward solar-blind and visible light dual-band optical communication. IEEE Electron Device Lett. 44, 472–475 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Zhou, Y. et al. Common-anode LED on a Si substrate for beyond 15 Gbit/s underwater visible light communication. Photonics Res. 7, 1019–1029 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Zheng, Z. et al. Gallium nitride-based complementary logic integrated circuits. Nat. Electron. 4, 595–603 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China 2023YFB3610500, National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos 62322410, 51727901, 52272168, 52161145404), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant no. WK3500000009) and International Projects of the Chinese Academy of Science under grant no. 211134KYSB20210011 and was partially carried out at the University of Science and Technology of China Center for Micro and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication. We would like to thank the Information Science Center of the University of Science and Technology of China for the hardware/software services and the ANSO scholarship for young talent.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Muhammad Hunain Memon, Huabin Yu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. iGaN Laboratory, School of Microelectronics, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Hunain Memon, Huabin Yu, Yuanmin Luo, Yang Kang, Wei Chen, Dongyang Luo, Shudan Xiao, Chengjie Zuo & Haiding Sun

  2. School of Information Science and Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Dong Li & Chao Shen

  3. Key Laboratory of Wireless-Optical Communications, Chinese Academy of Sciences, USTC, Hefei, China

    Chen Gong & Haiding Sun

  4. Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Lan Fu

  5. Photonics Laboratory, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

    Boon S. Ooi

  6. The Institute of Technological Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Sheng Liu

Authors
  1. Muhammad Hunain Memon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Huabin Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yuanmin Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yang Kang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Wei Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Dong Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Dongyang Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Shudan Xiao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Chengjie Zuo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Chen Gong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Chao Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Lan Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Boon S. Ooi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Sheng Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Haiding Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

H.S. developed the idea. H.S. and S.L. designed the experiments and supervised the project with the support of advanced material growth and characterization tools. M.H.M. and H.Y. fabricated the devices, performed material characterizations and data analysis and wrote the manuscript draft with input from all the authors. M.H.M., H.Y., Y.L., Y.K., W.C. and D. Luo performed the electrical and optical characterizations. H.Y. and S.X. conducted the theoretical modelling of the devices. M.H.M., C.G., D. Li and C.S. performed the optical communication testing. H.Y., Y.L., Y.K. and W.C. conducted the OELGs characterization. C.Z., L.F., B.S.O., S.L. and H.S. contributed to the results examination and revision of the manuscript. All the authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Sheng Liu or Haiding Sun.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Electronics thanks Hongyan Fu and Xin-Ke Liu for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–10, Text and corresponding references.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Memon, M.H., Yu, H., Luo, Y. et al. A three-terminal light emitting and detecting diode. Nat Electron 7, 279–287 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-024-01142-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-024-01142-y

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing