Efficient light emission at 1.54μm from Er in Si excited by hot electron injection through thin suboxide layers

We studied the electroluminescence of Er:O-doped Sipn diodes and unipolar structures with thin SiO _1.6 suboxide barriers, which were deposited by molecular-beam epitaxy. These suboxide layers reveal a barrier height of about 320 meV in the conduction band and therefore raise the average kinetic energy of electrons injected through the barrier into the Er:O doped region. These electrons turn out to be advantageous for impact excitation processes with the erbium ion. Compared to conventional reverse biased pn diodes a ten-times higher στ product for impact excitation (1.2×10 ^-19cm ²s) can be achieved in pn diodes with a suboxide injector at 10 K. The saturation electroluminescence (EL) intensity is enlarged in reverse bias and suppressed in forward bias compared to a diode without a suboxide layer. These structures exhibit a reduction of the EL intensity by a factor of 3 for increasing temperature from 10 to 300 K and yield a two-times higher EL output at 1.54 μm and 300 K than an optimized reverse biased pn diode without a suboxide layer. At 300 K this results in an absolute output power of 250 nW and an external quantum efficiency of 1.3×10 ^-4 at 1.54 μm. For the unipolar structure with an integrated suboxide barrier the EL output also depends on the current flow direction: Injecting the electrons hot through the suboxide barrier into the Er:O doped region results in a six times higher EL intensity at 1.54 μm than for the opposite biasing condition. The EL is detectable up to 300 K with a reduction of the intensity by a factor of 8 between 10 and 300 K. Monte Carlo simulations were performed on unipolar structures with an incorporated barrier to provide insight into the carrier density and carrier energy distribution after injection through the barrier.