The range of luminescent materials that can be used in electroluminescent devices is limited due to material processing challenges and band alignment issues. This impedes the development of electroluminescent devices at extreme wavelengths and hinders the use of electroluminescence spectroscopy as an analytical technique. Here, we show that a two-terminal device that uses an array of carbon nanotubes as the source contact can excite electroluminescence from various materials independent of their chemical composition. Transient band bending, created by applying an a.c. gate voltage, is used to achieve charge injection across different band alignments. As a result, the device can produce electroluminescence from long-wave infrared (0.13 eV) to ultraviolet (3.3 eV) wavelengths depending on the emitting material drop-casted on top of the nanotube array, and with onset voltages approaching the optical energy gap of the emitting material. We show that our device can be used to probe a chemical reaction in a liquid droplet via electroluminescence spectroscopy and can be used as an electroluminescence sensor for detecting organic vapours.

由于材料加工挑战和能带对准问题，可用于电致发光器件中的发光材料的范围受到限制。这阻碍了在极端波长下电致发光器件的发展，并阻碍了将电致发光光谱学用作分析技术。在这里，我们证明了使用碳纳米管阵列作为源触点的两端子设备可以激发各种材料的电致发光，而与它们的化学组成无关。通过施加交流栅极电压而产生的瞬态频带弯曲可用于实现跨不同频带对准的电荷注入。结果，该器件可以产生从长波红外（0.13 eV）到紫外（3。3 eV）波长取决于滴铸在纳米管阵列顶部的发光材料，并且起始电压接近发光材料的光能隙。我们展示了我们的设备可用于通过电致发光光谱探测液滴中的化学反应，并可用作检测有机蒸气的电致发光传感器。