Electroluminescence of erbium–oxygen-doped silicon diodes grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Abstract

We have fabricated erbium–oxygen-doped silicon light emitting diodes with molecular beam epitaxy by simultaneously evaporating erbium and silicon and providing a suitable background pressure of oxygen. In reverse bias, the diodes show intense room-temperature electroluminescence at λ=1.54 μm, originating from the intra-4f transition of erbium. This luminescence does not show temperature quenching between 4 and 300 K. In forward bias the erbium peak intensity is reduced by a factor of 30 at low temperatures and shows temperature quenching.