Room-Temperature 1.56 µm Electroluminescence of Highly Oriented β-FeSi2/Si Single Heterojunction Prepared by Magnetron-Sputtering Deposition

Abstract

β-FeSi2/Si light-emitting devices were prepared by growing continuous and highly oriented β-FeSi2 films on Si (111) substrates using RF magnetron-sputtering deposition with a Fe target. In-plane X-ray diffraction reveals that the epitaxial relationship is such that <001>β-FeSi2//<110>Si, indicating a (110) orientation in the growth direction. Post annealing was performed at 830°C and Al electrodes were deposited on both p-β-FeSi2 and n-Si sides. Room-temperature 1.56 µm electroluminescence was clearly observed from such a simple structure for the first time. Compared with the previously reported results for β-FeSi2 balls or β-FeSi2 precipitates buried in Si, the injection current density is more than one order of magnitude lower, indicating that the nonradiative recombination was effectively suppressed for the junction consisting of a continuous film.