In this paper, optoelectronic characteristics and related switching behavior of one monolithically integrated silicon light-emitting device (LED) with an interesting wavelength range of 400–900 nm are studied. Through the comparison of two types of geometry, Si avalanche-based LED and Si field-effect LED (Si FE LED), in the same device, we establish the dimensional dependence of the switching speed of the LED. Almost-linear modulation curve implies lower distortion is shown for the Si FE LED with light emission enhancement, and technology computer aided design (TCAD) simulations are in line with the experimental results. Our findings indicate that ON–OFF keying up to GHz frequencies should be feasible with such diodes. Potential applications should include Si FE LED integrated into the micro-photonic systems.

Silicon avalanche light-emitting devices (Si Av LEDs) offer various possibilities for realizing micro- and even nano- optical biosensors directly on chip. The light-emitting devices (LEDs) operate in the wavelength range of about 450-850nm, and their optical power emitted is of the order of a few hundreds of nW/µm². These LEDs could be fabricated in micro- and nano- dimensions by using modern semiconductor fabrication processing technologies through the mainstream of silicon material. Through a series of experiments, the dispersion phenomena in the Si Av LED are observed. Also, its light emission point was proved to locate at about one micron just below the silicon-silicon oxide interface. Subsequently, a micro-fluidic channel sensor was designed by using the dispersion characteristics owned by the Si Av LED. The analytes flowing through a micro-fluidic channel could be studied by their specific transmittance and absorption spectra. Moreover, simulations verify that a novel designed waveguide-based sensor could be fabricated on chip between the Si optical source and the Si P-I-N detector.

All-CMOS monolithic microdisplay technologies have been attracting attention due to their direct integration of light-emitting pixel arrays and driving circuits on a single silicon substrate. Improvements to optical power efficiency have been a hot spot for all-silicon microdisplay technologies. MOS-like gate-control structure avalanche-mode light-emitting diodes (AMLEDs) that employ hot-carrier electroluminescence to produce light emission are used to enhance the optical power efficiency of pixel units. A semi-active matrix mode is used to reduce the power consumption of driver circuits. A 100×100 pixel array with an all-CMOS monolithic microdisplay system is demonstrated using standard 0.18μm CMOS technology. The optical emission power and the breakdown voltage of the proposed AMLEDs are increased by 139.2% and reduced by more than 67%, respectively. The optical-power efficiency is 5.98×10 ^-7 which is comparable to the best reported so far in all-CMOS monolithic microdisplay chip. With its significant optical-power efficiency, the proposed microdisplay technology has broad application prospects in near-to-eye display and head mounted displays (HMDs).

The motivation of this study is to develop a p–n junction based light emitting device, in which the light emission is conventionally realized using reverse current driving, by voltage driving. By introducing an additional terminal of insulated gate for voltage driving, a novel three-terminal Si light emitting device is described where both the light intensity and spatial light pattern of the device are controlled by the gate voltage. The proposed light emitting device employs injection-enhanced Si in avalanche mode where electric field confinement occurs in the corner of a reverse-biased p ⁺ n junction. It is found that, depending on the bias conditions, the light intensity is either a linear or a quadratic function of the applied gate voltage or the reverse-bias. Since the light emission is based on the avalanching mode, the Si light emitting device offers the potential for very large scale integration-compatible light emitters for inter- or intra-chip signal transmission and contactless functional testing of wafers.

Corrections to "On the Design and Optimization of Three-Terminal Light-Emitting Device in Silicon CMOS Technology" (Kaikai Xu). Presented here is a list of corrections.