F. Duteil

Origin of abnormal temperature dependence of electroluminescence from Er/O-doped Si diodes

The temperature dependencies of the current–voltage characteristics and the electroluminescence (EL) intensity of molecular beam epitaxy grown Er/O-doped Si light emitting diodes at reverse bias have been studied. To minimize the scattering of electrons injected from the p-doped Si1−xGex electron emitters, an intrinsic Si layer was used in the depletion region. For many diodes, there is a temperature range where the EL intensity increases with temperature. Data are reported for a structure that shows increasing intensity up to 100 °C. This is attributed to an increasing fraction of the pumping current being due to phonon-assisted tunneling, which gives a higher saturation intensity, compared to ionization-dominated breakdown at lower temperatures.

Si/SiGe/Si : Er : O light-emitting transistors prepared by differential molecular-beam epitaxy

Si/SiGe/Si:Er:O heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) type light-emitting devices with Er3+ ions incorporated in the collector region have been fabricated using a layered structure grown by differential molecular-beam epitaxy. Electroluminescence measurements on processed light-emitting HBTs can be performed in either constant driving current mode or constant applied bias mode, which is an important advantage over conventional Si:Er light-emitting diodes. Intense room-temperature light emission at the Er3+ characteristic wavelength of 1.54 mum has been observed at low driving current density, e.g., 0.1 A cm(-2), and low applied bias, e.g., 3 V, across the collector and emitter

Electroluminescence studies of Er and SiO co-doped Si layers prepared by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract Er/O co-doped Si light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been fabricated using layer structures prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The Er/O doping was realized by sublimation of elemental Er and silicon monoxide simultaneously with Si during MBE growth. Intense Er-related electroluminescence (EL) at 1.54 μm was observed at room temperature from p + -SiGe/i-SiGe-Si/Si:Er/n + -Si LEDs by electron impact excitation under reverse bias. It has been found that the EL intensity was increased with increasing growth temperature of the Si:Er/O layer in the range of 430–575°C. The electrical pumping power dependence of EL intensity has been studied. An excitation cross section value of ∼1×10 −16 cm 2 was estimated based on the experimental data and model fitting. The EL decay behavior under various injection and bias conditions has been studied by time-resolved EL measurements. The overall luminescence decay time is found to strongly depend on the injection parameters. Two types of de-excitation mechanisms due to Auger energy transfer to free carriers introduced by either dopant ionization or carrier injection have been discussed. Both Auger processes play an important role in reduction of the EL intensity when there is a high density of carriers with excited Er ions.

Light emitting SiGe/i-Si/Si:Er:O tunneling diodes prepared by molecular beam epitaxy

p+-SiGe/i-Si/n-Si:Er:O/n+-Si tunneling diodes have been processed using layer structures prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Electroluminescence has been observed at room temperature from the ...

1.54 μm Light emitting devices based on Er/O-doped Si layered structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract Two types of Si:Er light emitting devices have been processed and characterized with an aim to efficiently use hot electrons for impact excitation. One is a p+-SiGe/i-Si/n-Si:Er:O/n+-Si tunneling diode with a design favoring electron tunneling from the SiGe valence band to the Si conduction band and subsequent acceleration. Another type of Si:Er light emitters is based on a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) structure containing an Er-doped active layer in the collector. In these devices, one can introduce hot electrons from the HBT emitter in a controlled way with a collector bias voltage prior to the avalanche breakdown to improve the impact excitation efficiency. Intense electroluminescence was observed at 300 K at low current (0.1 A cm −2 ) and low bias (3 V). An impact cross-section value of 1×10 −14 cm 2 has been estimated, which is a 100-fold increase compared with the values reported from any other type of Er-doped LEDs.

Efficient 1.54 μm light emission from Si/SiGe/Si:Er:O transistors prepared by differential MBE

Si/SiGe/Si:Er:O-heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT)-type light emitting devices with Er3+ ions incorporated in the collector region have been fabricated using layered structures prepared by differential molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Intense light emission at 1.54 µm has been observed at room temperature by hot electron impact excitation at rather low injection current and applied voltage. Separate controls of the injection current and bias voltage make it possible to perform detailed electroluminescence (EL) studies that can not be done with conventional Si:Er light emitting diodes (LEDs). Saturation of the EL intensity occurs at very low current densities indicating a 100-fold increase of the effective excitation cross-section for Si/SiGe/Si:Er:O-HBTs compared with Si:Er-LEDs.

Er/O doped Si1-xGex alloy layers grown by MBE

Silicon-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) containing an Er/O-doped Si1-xGex active layer have been studied. The structures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), with Er and O concentrations of 5 × 1019 and 1 × 1020 cm-3, respectively, using Er and silicon monoxide sources. The microstructure has been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and it is found that Er/O-doped Si0.92Ge0.08 layers of high crystalline quality, can be obtained. Electroluminescence (EL) measurements have been performed on reverse-biased Er/O doped diodes both from the surface and from the edge and the emission at 1.54 µm associated with the Er3+ ions has been studied at 300 K and lower temperatures. To evaluate the possibility to use a Si1-xGex layer for waveguiding in Si-based optoelectronics, studies of the refractive index n of strained Si1-xGex as a function of the Ge concentration have been done by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the range 0.3-1.7 µm. At 1.54 µm the refractive index increases monotonically with the Ge concentration up to n = 3.542 for a Ge concentration of 21.3%.