1.3-μm light-emitting diode from silicon electron irradiated at its damage threshold

Abstract

We report 77-K electroluminescence from an irradiated carbon-rich silicon diode that has an internal quantum efficiency more than 103 times higher than that of band-to-band recombination in an unirradiated, but otherwise identical diode. This is achieved by creating optically active Cs-SiI-Cs complexes with room-temperature electron bombardment at an energy between the displacement thresholds for single vacancy and divacancy formation. Under these irradiation conditions, it is possible to create a high concentration of radiative defects without gross degradation of the diode’s electrical characteristics. The technique could provide very large scale integration-compatible silicon light-emitting diodes for 1.3–1.6 μm all-silicon integrated optics.