Optical microcavities and enhanced electroluminescence from electroformed Al-Al2O3-Ag diodes

Abstract

Electroluminescence (EL) and electron emission into vacuum (EM) occur when a non-destructive dielectric breakdown of Al-Al2O3-Ag diodes, electroforming, results in the development of a filamentary region in which current-voltage (I-V) characteristics exhibit voltage-controlled negative resistance. The temperature dependence of I-V curves, EM, and, particularly, EL of Al-Al2O3-Ag diodes with anodic Al2O3 thicknesses between 12 nm and 30 nm, has been studied. Two filters, a long-pass (LP) filter with transmission of photons with energies less than 3.0 eV and a short-pass (SP) filter with photon transmission between 3.0 and 4.0 eV, have been used to characterize EL. The voltage threshold for EL with the LP filter, VLP, is ∼1.5 V. VLP is nearly independent of Al2O3 thickness and of temperature and is 0.3–0.6 V less than the threshold voltage for EL for the SP filter, VSP. EL intensity is primarily between 1.8 and 3.0 eV when the bias voltage, VS ≲ 7 V. EL in the thinnest diodes is enhanced compared to EL in thicker diodes. For increasing VS, for diodes with the smallest Al2O3 thicknesses, there is a maximum EL intensity, LMX, at a voltage, VLMX, followed by a decrease to a plateau. LMX and EL intensity at 4.0 V in the plateau region depend exponentially on Al2O3 thickness. The ratio of LMX at 295 K for a diode with 12 nm of Al2O3 to LMX for a diode with 25 nm of Al2O3 is ∼140. The ratio of EL intensity with the LP filter to EL intensity with the SP filter, LP/SP, varies between ∼3 and ∼35; it depends on Al2O3 thickness and VS. Enhanced EL is attributed to the increase of the spontaneous emission rate of a dipole in a non-resonant optical microcavity. EL photons interact with the Ag and Al films to create surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at the metal-Al2O3 interfaces. SPPs generate large electromagnetic fields in the filamentary region of the electroformed Al-Al2O3-Ag diode, which then acts as an optical microcavity. A model is proposed for electronic processes in electroformed Al-Al2O3-Ag diodes.