High Color-Rendering Index and Stable White Light-Emitting Diodes Based on Highly Luminescent Quantum Dots

Solid-phase color converter-based quantum dots (QDs) white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) have become promising next-generation solid-state light sources. However, the development of these WLEDs’ production still suffers from constraints involving insufficient color-rendering index (CRI), low color stability, and short operation lifetimes. Here, thick-shell Cd_0.05Zn_0.95S/CdSe/Cd_xZn_1–xS spherical quantum wells are developed with good color tunability from green to red regions and high photoluminescence quantum yield (up to 88% for green wavelengths). QDs with five emission colors are used to fabricate a series of WLEDs, which possess a good correlated color temperature tunability from warm (3210 K) to cool (22 000K) white light, and a high CRI Ra (>90). Specifically, the neutral white light device with Commission Internationale de l´Eclairage (CIE, International Commission on illumination) of (0.36, 0.36) and the standard white light device with CIE of (0.33, 0.33) achieve a CRI Ra up to 95.8 and 95.11, respectively, they also exhibit long operating life and great color stability. These results indicate that the improvement of the performance and stability of the WLED based on thick-shell spherical quantum wells is remarkable progress in the commercialization of QD-based solid-state lighting.