Graphene-silver nanowire hybrid structure as a transparent and current spreading electrode in ultraviolet light emitting diodes

We report a device that combines graphene film and Ag nanowires (AgNWs) as transparent and current spreading electrodes for ultra-violet (UV) light emitting diode (LED) with interesting characteristics for the potential use in the deep UV region. The current-voltage characteristics and electroluminescence (EL) performance show that graphene network on AgNWs well-operates as a transparent and current spreading electrode in UV LED devices. In addition, scanning electron microscopy and EL images exhibit that graphene film act as the protection layer of AgNWs layer as well as a transparent conducting network, by bridging AgNWs.