Silicon light emitting devices in CMOS technology

Two silicon light emitting devices with different structures are realized in standard 0.35 mu m complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. They operate in reverse breakdown mode and can be turned on at 8.3 V. Output optical powers of 13.6 nW and 12.1 nW are measured at 10 V and 100 mA, respectively, and both the calculated light emission intensities are more than 1 mW/Cm-2. The optical spectra of the two devices are between 600-790 nm with a clear peak near 760 nm..

A silicon light emitting devices in standard CMOS technology

A silicon light emitting device is designed and simulated. It is fabricated in 0.6 mum standard CMOS technology. The device can give more than 1 muW optical power of visible light under reverse breakdown. The device can be turned on at a bias of 0.88 V and work in a large range of voltage: 1.0-6.0 V The external electrical-optical conversion efficiency is more than 10(-6). The optical spectrum of the device is between 540-650 nm, which have a clear peak near 580 nm. The emission mechanism can be explained by a hot carrier direct recombination model.