Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, University of Maryland and Howard University have developed a technique to create tiny, highly efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) from nanowires.

Light-based nanoscale devices, such as LEDs, could be important building blocks for a new generation of ultracompact, inexpensive technologies, including sensors and optical communications devices. Ultraviolet LEDs are particularly important for data-storage and biological sensing devices, such as detectors for airborne pathogens.