Stimulated emission at 1.54 μm from erbium/ oxygen-doped silicon-based light-emitting diodes

Silicon-based light sources, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) for information transmission, are urgently needed for developing monolithic integrated silicon photonics. Silicon with erbium ions (Er³⁺) doped by ion implantation is considered a promising approach, but it suffers from an extremely low quantum efficiency. Here we report an electrically pumped superlinear emission at 1.54 μm from Er/O-doped silicon planar LEDs, which are produced by applying a new deep cooling process. Stimulated emission at room temperature is realized with a low threshold current of ∼6 mA (∼0.8 A∕cm²). Time-resolved photoluminescence and photocurrent results have revealed the complex carrier transfer dynamics by relaxing electrons from the Si conduction band to the Er³⁺ ion. This picture differs from the frequently assumed energy transfer via electron–hole pair recombination of the silicon host. Moreover, the amplified emission from the LEDs is likely due to a quasi-continuous Er/O-related donor band created by the deep cooling technique. This work paves the way for fabricating superluminescent diodes or efficient LEDs at communication wavelengths based on rare-earth-doped silicon.