On the electrical and optical characteristics of reverse-biased silicon p-n junctions embedded in a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor device

摘要

In this paper, we discuss the emission of visible light by a monolithically integrated silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistor (Si-MOSFET) in which the p-n junctions are reverse-biased. The emission of light is observed from reverse-biased p-n junction though silicon is an indirect bandgap material. In this paper new research results with regard to two- and three- terminal Si-LEDs in the p-type MOSFET device are presented. Light emission from the two devices types (1) silicon p-n junction diode (2) silicon p-n junction gate-controlled diode with the junction biased in controlled avalanche breakdown. A multi-mechanism model fitting measured spectra is presented and justified, with the conclusion that the dominant light-emission mechanism is due to a combination of avalanche breakdown and tunneling.