Next Generation 1024x1024 Individually Addressable Mid-Infrared LED Arrays Based on Cascaded W-Superlattice Emitters

John P. Prineas; M.Z. Bellus; Alex C. Walhof; Logan M. Nichols; David A. Montealegre; Michael J. Grzesik; Rodney T. McGee; Hamzah Ahmed; Fouad Kiamilev

doi:10.1109/JQE.2026.3675506

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Next Generation 1024x1024 Individually Addressable Mid-Infrared LED Arrays Based on Cascaded W-Superlattice Emitters

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Next Generation 1024x1024 Individually Addressable Mid-Infrared LED Arrays Based on Cascaded W-Superlattice Emitters

John P. Prineas, M.Z. Bellus, Alex C. Walhof, Logan M. Nichols, David A. Montealegre, Michael J. Grzesik, Rodney T. McGee, Hamzah Ahmed and Fouad Kiamilev

IEEE journal of quantum electronics

2026

DOI: 10.1109/JQE.2026.3675506

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Abstract

Mid-infrared light-emitting diodes (IRLEDs) offer high modulation bandwidth, high apparent radiance, and analog grayscale operation, making them attractive for large-area patterned emitters and high-speed illumination systems. However, their practical use in dense arrays has been limited by low wall-plug efficiency and thermal performance. Here we demonstrate a 1024×1024, 24 μm pitch mid-infrared IRLED array based on a 16-stage cascaded W-superlattice emitter, quadrupling the pixel count of prior 512×512 arrays. Improvements in superlattice design, backside roughening, and hybridization enabled >99% operability, with apparent temperatures of >1300 K for the full array, ≈1700 K in a quadrant, and >2000 K in process evaluation chips (PEC) devices, and wall-plug efficiencies up to ~1% at low injection. Advances in system control electronics and nanosecond-scale pixel response enabled >400 Hz frame rates with 11-bit radiance resolution. System performance is primarily limited by thermal droop under high drive, but synchronous operation enabled full-array output to 300 K with <1% droop, and thermal modeling predicts >2500 K apparent temperature for ~1% of pixels with enhanced cooling and active thermal management. These results establish large-format IRLED emitter arrays as a scalable platform for high-speed infrared illumination and pattern generation and show a path toward further performance gains through improved wall-plug efficiency and thermal control.

Light Emitting Diodes

GaSb

Gears

Group III-V semiconductor

Indium

LED array

Lighting

Quantum dot lasers

Rapid thermal annealing

Spatial resolution

Superlattices

Thermal management

thermal scene projector

Type 2 superlattice

Urban areas

Details

Title: Subtitle: Next Generation 1024x1024 Individually Addressable Mid-Infrared LED Arrays Based on Cascaded W-Superlattice Emitters
Creators: John P. Prineas - University of Iowa
M.Z. Bellus - Firefly Photonics, Iowa City, IA, USA
Alex C. Walhof
Logan M. Nichols - Firefly Photonics, Iowa City, IA, USA
David A. Montealegre - University of Iowa
Michael J. Grzesik - Teledyne Technologies (United States)
Rodney T. McGee - Chip Design Systems (United States)
Hamzah Ahmed - Chip Design Systems (United States)
Fouad Kiamilev - University of Delaware
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: IEEE journal of quantum electronics
DOI: 10.1109/JQE.2026.3675506
ISSN: 0018-9197
eISSN: 1558-1713
Publisher: IEEE
Number of pages: 1
Grant note: W900KK-17-C-0012 / United States Department of the Army
Language: English
Electronic publication date: 2026
Academic Unit: Electrical and Computer Engineering; Physics and Astronomy; Mechanical Engineering
Record Identifier: 9985149522702771

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