Characterization of structural, electrical and optical properties of rare-earth doped Si-based light emitting diodes

The possibilities of the suggested modification of the solid phase epitaxial technique for the engineering of structural defects and electrically and optically active centers as well as for improvement of the properties of rare-earth doped Si-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been demonstrated. The formation of microtwins and dislocations in very high densities gave a possibility to prepare avalanching and tunneling diodes characterized by uniform breakdown over the whole area of p–n junction and working at room temperature. Temperature enhancement of the rare-earth-related electroluminescence (EL) intensity in (111) LEDs is observed under avalanche and tunnel breakdown of p–n junctions. The enhancement is related to the formation of process-induced deep level centers. New centers emitting under reverse bias and characterized by the highest effective cross section for the excitation of Er3+ ions were observed. LEDs with EL of Ho3+ ions at room temperature have been prepared.