A solid-state light-emitting device based on ballistic electron excitation using an inorganic material as a fluorescent film

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that a solid-state light-emitting device based on ballistic electron excitation generated in nanocrystalline porous silicon (nc-PS) layer can be fabricated using an inorganic material as a fluorescent film. This device is composed of a semitransparent thin Au film, an inorganic fluorescent film (in this case, ZnS: Mn), a nc-PS layer, n-type Si substrate and an ohmic back contact. When a positive bias voltage of higher than 20 V is applied to the Au contact, electrons injected into the nc-PS layer are accelerated towards the outer surface, and then hit a fluorescent film as quasi-ballistic or ballistic electrons. The spectra of emitted light correspond to the original emission band of the deposited fluorescent material. These results show that it is possible to use a variety of materials (such as organic materials and inorganic ones) as fluorescent films for the novel solid-state luminescent devices. This is applicable to multicolor surface-emitting light source and flat panel display.