Influence of the orientation of the silicon substrate on the properties of avalanche Si:Er:O light-emitting structures

Abstract

The influence of the orientation of silicon on the structural and luminescence properties of avalanche light-emitting diodes fabricated by the coimplantation of erbium and oxygen followed by solid-phase epitaxial (SPE) crystallization of the amorphized layer is considered. The luminescence properties are a consequence of the formation of various structural defects during the SPE crystallization: V-shaped dislocations and erbium precipitates form in (100) Si:Er:O layers, and larger structural defects, i.e, twins, are observed in (111) Si:Er:O layers along with an increase in the dislocation density by more than four orders of magnitude in comparison with the (100) orientation. The luminescence properties of avalanche and tunnel light-emitting diodes are also compared. In contrast to tunnel diodes, in avalanche diodes erbium ions are excited in the entire space-charge layer, and the effective excitation cross section of the Er3+ ions and their lifetime in the excited state are 3–4 times larger.