Light Emission of Er³⁺ in Silicon

Abstract

The introduction of Er impurities in Si would in principle allow electronic excitation of the 4f transition through a carrier-mediated process with a subsequent radiative de-excitation. Indeed, the first Er-doped light emitting diode (LED) operating at 1.54 μm and at 77 K was demonstrated in 1985. However, the achievement of room temperature operation has been hampered for a long time by a strong temperature quenching of the Er luminescence. Important potential applications have driven worldwide an increasing interest in the understanding of the Si:Er system and we have now gained a huge amount of information leading to the fabrication of room temperature operating LEDs described in this chapter.