E. Cartier et al., LIGHT-EMISSION DURING DIRECT AND FOWLER-NORDHEIM TUNNELING IN ULTRA-THIN MOS TUNNEL-JUNCTIONS, Microelectronic engineering, 36(1-4), 1997, pp. 103-106
Light emission from silicon/silicon dioxide/metal tunnel junctions is
shown to cover a wide wavelength range from to infrared into the near-
ultraviolet. The energy of the emitted light increases with increasing
junction bias. This behavior appears to be consistent with calculatio
ns for light emission from direct conduction to conduction band transi
tion of the hot electrons after tunneling into the silicon.