Room temperature electroluminescence from a c-Si p-i-n structure

The time dependent electroluminescence (EL) of c-Si (at 1.1 eV) is investig ated at room temperature for a p-i-n structure under excitation with forwar d biased current pulses. The EL intensity increases by square law at shorte r times (<3 mus) and reaches a steady state value at longer times (> 10 mus ). The parabolic dependence of the EL intensity on the current density at t he shorter times points to the bimolecular recombination mechanism. The EL response time has been decreased to less than 200 ns for the given p-i-n st ructure by application of a reverse bias potential. The maximal EL quantum efficiency is of the order of 0.01% for the investigated p-i-n structure an d possible ways to increase this value are discussed. (C) 2001 American Ins titute of Physics.