Silicon MOS Optoelectronic Micro‐Nano Structure Based on Reverse‐Biased PN Junction

Abstract

Photon emission from Si p‐channel MOS field‐effect transistor (PMOSFET) having 6‐μm effective gate length that is operated as a three‐terminal gate‐controlled light‐emitting diode is fabricated. Using a photon‐emission microscope with a detector responsive to the range of 200–1000 nm, continues emission spectra is obtained in the range of 1.38–2.76 eV), which includes visible light radiation. Since the MOS‐like diode utilizes the field effect induced by the gate for modulation of diode's space charge electric field and hence the optical output from the light emitting diode, the modulation speed for visible and infrared bands can attain higher frequencies with a significant offset. The fabrication of the device is fully compatible with CMOS processing procedures. Therefore, the device can serve as an optical signal modulator in the high frequency range in the optoelectronic systems fabricated by the existing standard silicon technology. This approach of light generation from silicon light‐emitting device (Si‐LED) provides a solution for the challenging task of manufacturing of all‐silicon monolithically integrated optoelectronic systems composed of CMOS transistors and Si‐LED fabricated on the same chip, in the same CMOS standard processing and in the same production lines.