E. Neufeld et al., PHOTOLUMINESCENCE AND ELECTROLUMINESCENCE CHARACTERIZATION OF ERBIUM-DOPED SIGE, Journal of vacuum science & technology. B, Microelectronics and nanometer structures processing, measurement and phenomena, 16(5), 1998, pp. 2615-2618
We have performed photo- and electroluminescence measurements on erbiu
m doped silicon and SiGe samples containing different amounts of germa
nium. All samples were grown completely by molecular beam epitaxy. Oxy
gen was used as a codopant to enhance the luminescence efficiency. The
photoluminescence data show a systematic variation of the thermal act
ivation energy obtained from temperature dependent intensity measureme
nts with varying germanium contents. For samples with an alternating S
i/SiGe layer structure stronger photoluminescence is observed when the
erbium ions are incorporated into the SiGe layers rather than into th
e silicon layers. We attribute this to the capture of photogenerated c
arriers in the SiGe layers. Electroluminescence from erbium doped SiGe
samples which have been processed as diodes has been observed up to r
oom temperature in both surface and edge emitting geometries. (C) 1998
American Vacuum Society.