Injection-avalanche-based n+pn silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor light-emitting device (450-750nm) with 2-order-of-magnitude increase in light emission intensity

In this paper, we report on an increase in emission intensity of up to 10 nW/mu m(2) that has been realized with a new novel two junction, diagonal avalanche control, and minority carrier injection silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) light emitting device (LED). The device utilizes a four-terminal configuration with two embedded shallow n(+) P junctions in a p substrate. One junction is kept in deep-avalanche and light-emitting mode, while the other junction is forward biased and minority carrier electrons are injected into the avalanching junction. The device has been realized using standard 0.35 mu m CMOS design rules and fabrication technology and operates at 9 V in the current range 0.1-3 mA. The optical output power is about one order of magnitude higher for previous single-junction n(+)p light-emitting devices while the emission intensity is about two orders of magnitude higher than for single-junction devices. The optical output is about three orders of magnitude higher than the low-frequency detectivity limit of silicon p-i-n detectors of comparable dimensions. The realized characteristics may enable diverse optoelectronic applications in standard-CMOS-silicon-technology-based integrated circuitry.