Exploring the Recent Progress in InP Quantum Dots and QLEDs: Advances in Synthesis, Architecture, and Applications

Indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as eco-friendly alternatives to cadmium-based QDs, offering high tunability, excellent color purity, and promising potential for next-generation optoelectronic devices such as quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs). However, their integration into commercial technologies continues to face critical challenges, most notably, the enhancement of photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) at the material level and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) at the device level. Although recent advances in colloidal synthesis and surface engineering have led to significant improvements in PLQY, effectively transferring these enhancements to achieve high EQE in QLEDs remains a major hurdle due to limitations in charge injection, charge balance, and interfacial losses. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the progress in InP QD development, focusing on key advancements in colloidal synthesis, core/shell engineering, charge transport layers, interfacial modification, and carrier dynamics. The historical evolution of InP QDs from their initial synthesis in 1989 to their growing role in QLEDs post-2011 is examined in detail, along with persistent issues such as parasitic emission, charge imbalance, and device instability. Finally, the review explores emerging applications in flexible electronics, wearable displays, a nd high-resolution LED arrays, and suggests future research directions aimed at enhancing efficiency, stability, and scalability for commercial deployment. © 2025 The Author(s). Laser & Photonics Reviews published by Wiley-VCH GmbH