Origin of strong white electroluminescence from dense Si nanodots embedded in silicon nitride

• DOI: 10.1364/ol.37.000692
• Publication Date: 2012-02-16T20:12:17Z
• Authors: R. Huang; J. Song; X. Wang; Y. Q. Guo; C. Song; Z. H. Zheng; X. L. Wu; Paul K. Chu
• Keywords: Dangling bond; Nanodot; Light emission

Strong white electroluminescence (EL) from SiN-based devices containing Si nanodots with a density of more than 4.6×1012/cm2 was investigated. The EL illustrates enhanced light emission increasing applied voltage and can be divided into two components, dominant peak at ∼710 nm weak one ∼550 nm, which are close to those the PL spectra optically pumped by 325 488 lines, respectively. Based on characteristics, we propose that band arises band-to-band recombination in dense where quantum confinement plays decisive role emission, whereas originates radiative dangling bond (K0) centers silicon nitride matrix.