Light emitting diode structure based on Si nanocrystals formed by implantation into thermal oxide

Abstract Light emitting diodes (LED), continuously operable at room temperature, have been fabricated by Si + ion implantation into SiO 2 and subsequent annealing in order to form Si nanocrystals. A highly doped poly-Si layer was used to enhance injection into nanocrystals. Visible electroluminescence (EL) was observed from the LEDs with oxide thickness ⩽180 A for bias voltages above 8 V. The EL decay transient was similar to stretched-exponential decays observed for photoluminescence (PL) from Si nanocrystals.