Summary: On the temperature dependence of point-defect-mediated luminescence
in silicon
Daniel Recht, Federico Capasso, and Michael J. Aziza
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
02138, USA
Received 11 May 2009; accepted 28 May 2009; published online 25 June 2009
We present a model of the temperature dependence of point-defect-mediated luminescence in silicon
derived from basic kinetics and semiconductor physics and based on the kinetics of bound exciton
formation. The model provides a good fit to data for W line electroluminescence and G line
photoluminescence in silicon. Strategies are discussed for extending luminescence to room
temperature. © 2009 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.3157277
Despite silicon's indirect band gap, the potential cost and
scale benefits of developing a silicon device that displays
efficient electroluminescence at room temperature make the
search for such a device an active area of research.1
One
approach is the use of point defects as light emission
centers.2­4
Recently, light-emitting devices have been pro-
duced using two different zero-phonon emission lines origi-

Source: Aziz, Michael J.- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
Capasso, Federico - School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University

Collections: Engineering; Materials Science; Physics