Date: 15/05/2012

AlN semiconductor LEDs can generate UV rays to kill microbes in water

Research from North Carolina State University are into developing Light Emitting Diode (LEDs) that can generate Ultra-Violet light radiation to kill pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. These LED devices can be used for wide range applications such as drinking-water treatment to sterilizing surgical tools.

"UV treatment utilizing LEDs would be more cost-effective, energy efficient and longer lasting," says Dr. Ramón Collazo, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the research. "Our work would also allow for the development of robust and portable water-treatment technologies for use in developing countries."

LEDs utilize aluminum nitride (AlN) as a semiconductor, because the material can handle a lot of power and create light in a wide spectrum of colors, particularly in the UV range. However, technologies that use AlN LEDs to create UV light have been severely limited because the substrates that served as the foundation for these semiconductors absorbed wavelengths of UV light that are crucial to applications in sterilization and water treatment technologies, stated in the release.

A team of researchers from North Carolina and Japan have determined that trace carbon atoms in the crystalline structure of the AlN substrate were responsible for absorbing most of the relevant UV light. By eliminating the carbon in the substrate, the team was able to significantly improve the amount of UV light that can pass through the substrate at the desired wavelengths.

"Once we identified the problem, it was relatively easy and inexpensive to address," says Dr. Zlatko Sitar, Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State and co-author of the paper.

HexaTech Inc., a spin-off company from NC State is commercializing this technology.

"This is a problem that's been around for more than 30 years, and we were able to solve it by integrating advanced computation, materials synthesis and characterization," says Dr. Doug Irving, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of the paper. "I think we'll see more work in this vein as the Materials Genome Initiative moves forward, and that this approach will accelerate the development of new materials and related technologies."

The paper, "On the origin of the 265 nm absorption band in AlN bulk crystals," is published online in Applied Physics Letters. Co-authors include Benjamin Gaddy, Zachary Bryan, Ronny Kirste and Marc Hoffman from NC State, as well as researchers from HexaTech Inc., Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, and the Tokuyama Corporation. The research was supported with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense.