Luminescence from Er and Tb implanted into MOS tunnel diodes

We have demonstrated the 1.5 mu m electroluminescence from implanted Er ion s inside the SiO2 insulator of a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) st ructure under forward bias. The Er ions are excited by the direct impact fr om electrons tunneling through the oxide at electric fields larger than 6 M V/cm. We measured an excitation cross-section of 6x10(-15) cm(2) and a tota l lifetime of 1.5 ms. In order to change the emission wavelength into the v isible regime, we changed to Tb ions. Photoluminescence data show a broad d efect luminescence band and several sharp lines due to the Tb Transitions. We find a noticeable influence of Tb-Tb-cross-relaxation which favours the green lines over the blue luminescence lines. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevie r Science B.V. All rights reserved.