Realization of photo- and electroluminescent Si:Er structures by the method of sublimation molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

We demonstrate the possibility of producing light-emitting Si:Er diode structures operating up to room temperature at the wavelength of 1.54 µm. The electroluminescent diode structures of both avalanche and tunnelling types, which are presented here for the first time, were produced by an original method of sublimation molecular beam epitaxy (SMBE). This method offers the possibility of producing novel types of Si:Er structures, namely, selectively Er-doped multilayer structures, the photoluminescence and electroluminescence response of which, by more than an order of magnitude, exceeds that for the uniformly Er-doped layers. The luminescent features, temperature quenching behaviour and excitation specificity in these Si:Er structures grown by the SMBE method are discussed.