skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Green electroluminescence from Tb{sub 4}O{sub 7} films on silicon: Impact excitation of Tb{sup 3+} ions by hot carriers

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4941430· OSTI ID:22489392
; ; ; ; ;  [1];  [1]
  1. State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)

We report on green electroluminescence (EL) due to the intra-4f transitions of the trivalent terbium (Tb{sup 3+}) ions inherent in a Tb{sub 4}O{sub 7} film that is sandwiched between the ITO film and heavily phosphorous- or boron-doped silicon (n{sup +}-Si or p{sup +}-Si) substrate, thus forming the so-called metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device. The onset voltage of such EL is below 10 V. From the current-voltage characteristic and voltage-dependent EL spectra of the aforementioned MOS device, it is derived that the Tb-related green EL results from the impact excitation of Tb{sup 3+} ions by the hot electrons (holes), which stem from the electric-field acceleration of the electrons (holes) injected from the n{sup +}-Si (p{sup +}-Si) substrate via the trap-assisted tunneling mechanism.

OSTI ID:
22489392
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English