Electrically driven amplified spontaneous emission from colloidal quantum dots

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are attractive materials for realizing solution-processable laser diodes that could benefit from size-controlled emission wavelengths, low optical-gain thresholds and ease of integration with photonic and electronic circuits(1–7). However, the implementation of such devices has been hampered by fast Auger recombination of gain-active multicarrier states(1,8), poor stability of QD films at high current densities(9,10) and the difficulty to obtain net optical gain in a complex device stack wherein a thin electroluminescent QD layer is combined with optically lossy charge-conducting layers(11–13). Here we resolve these challenges and achieve amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from electrically pumped colloidal QDs. The developed devices use compact, continuously graded QDs with suppressed Auger recombination incorporated into a pulsed, high-current-density charge-injection structure supplemented by a low-loss photonic waveguide. These colloidal QD ASE diodes exhibit strong, broadband optical gain and demonstrate bright edge emission with instantaneous power of up to 170 μW.