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Field-effect electroluminescence in silicon nanocrystals

Nature Materials volume 4, pages 143–146 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

There is currently worldwide interest in developing silicon-based active optical components in order to leverage the infrastructure of silicon microelectronics technology for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices. Light emission in bulk silicon-based devices is constrained in wavelength to infrared emission, and in efficiency by the indirect bandgap of silicon1,2. One promising strategy for overcoming these challenges is to make use of quantum-confined excitonic emission in silicon nanocrystals. A critical challenge for silicon nanocrystal devices based on nanocrystals embedded in silicon dioxide has been the development of a method for efficient electrical carrier injection3,4,5,6,7,8. We report here a scheme for electrically pumping dense silicon nanocrystal arrays by a field-effect electroluminescence mechanism. In this excitation process, electrons and holes are both injected from the same semiconductor channel across a tunnelling barrier in a sequential programming process, in contrast to simultaneous carrier injection in conventional pn-junction light-emitting-diode structures. Light emission is strongly correlated with the injection of a second carrier into a nanocrystal that has been previously programmed with a charge of the opposite sign.

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Figure 1: Schematic of the field-effect electroluminescence mechanism in a silicon nanocrystal floating-gate transistor structure.
Figure 2: Photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) emission spectra.
Figure 3: Time-resolved electroluminescence.
Figure 4: Variation of electroluminescence intensity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Intel Corporation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (#FA9550-04-1-0434). R.J.W. acknowledges National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship support through the Army Research Office.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thomas J. Watson Laboratories of Applied Physics, MS 128-95, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, California, USA

    Robert J. Walters & Harry A. Atwater

  2. 1501 S. MOPAC Exp., MS 4A15, Austin, 78746, Texas, USA

    George I. Bourianoff

Authors
  1. Robert J. Walters
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  2. George I. Bourianoff
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  3. Harry A. Atwater
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Correspondence to Robert J. Walters.

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Walters, R., Bourianoff, G. & Atwater, H. Field-effect electroluminescence in silicon nanocrystals. Nature Mater 4, 143–146 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1307

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