Electroluminescence from a current-emitting nanostructured silicon device

A three-dimensional silicon based nanodevice mainly consisting of two conductive silicon cantilevers was fabricated out of silicon-on-insulator material by electron beam lithography, reactive ion etching, and fluoride based wet chemical etching. One of the cantilevers is bent and sticks to the silicon substrate while the other one is freely suspended. We observed electroluminescence in the visible range when a voltage of any polarity is dropped across both levers. The measured spectra covered the range 400–950 nm peaking at about 650 nm. The current applied to the device could tune the intensity of the electroluminescence spectrum. Light powers ranging from 160 fW to some pW were measured at frequencies up to 17 kHz. The origin of the electroluminescence is discussed in comparison to porous silicon and spark-processed silicon.