Er-doped edge emitting devices with a SiGe waveguide

Er-doped Si edge emitting devices have been fabricated using layer structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Both oxygen and carbon were used as co-dopant in the Er-doped layer. In order to achieve a waveguiding effect, a SiGe layer has been placed next to the Er-doped layer. Intense electroluminescence (EL) at 1.54 μm has been observed from edge emission of such a device at room temperature and even up to 50°C at low excitation power under reverse bias. The value of an activation energy (125 meV) for dominating luminescence intensity quenching, as derived from temperature-dependent EL measurements, was 30 meV lower than that observed from our previous Er/O-doped structures (155 meV), which is likely caused by the band gap narrowing induced by C-doping. The estimated external quantum efficiency of these Er-doped Si edge emitting LEDs is 5×10⁻⁵ at room temperature.