Abstract
Although silicon has long been the material of choice for most microelectronic applications, it is a poor emitter of light (a consequence of having an ‘indirect’ bandgap), so hampering the development of integrated silicon optoelectronic devices. This problem has motivated numerous attempts to develop silicon-based structures with good light-emission characteristics1, particularly at wavelengths (∼1.5 μm) relevant to optical fibre communication. For example, silicon–germanium superlattice structures2 can result in a material with a pseudo-direct bandgap that emits at ∼1.5 μm, and doping silicon with erbium3 introduces an internal optical transition having a similar emission wavelength, although neither approach has led to practical devices. In this context, β-iron disilicide has attracted recent interest4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 as an optically active, direct-bandgap material th might be compatible with existing silicon processing technology. Here we report the realization of a light-emitting device operating at 1.5 μm that incorporates β-FeSi2 into a conventional silicon bipolar junction. We argue that this result demonstrates the potential of β-FeSi2 as an important candidate for a silicon-based optoelectronic technology.
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Acknowledgements
We thank E. Parker and P. J. Phillips of the University of Warwick for growing the silicon p–n junction layers. This work was supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
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Leong, D., Harry, M., Reeson, K. et al. A silicon/iron-disilicide light-emitting diode operating at a wavelength of 1.5 μm. Nature 387, 686–688 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/42667
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/42667
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