Physics and Device Structures of Highly Efficient Silicon Quantum Dots Based Silicon Nitride Light-Emitting Diodes

An electrically driven light emitter from silicon is a long-standing problem in silicon photonics. Recently, significant progress has been made using silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) embedded in the silicon nitride thin films, transparent doping layers and electrodes, and surface-modified structures. This paper provides an overview of the progress in the device physics and fabrications of the Si QD light-emitting diodes (LEDs) including new device structures to improve the light extraction efficiency as well as highlights in the growth of the Si QDs and their quantum confinement effects (QCEs)