Polarized electroluminescence from silicon nanostructures

TL;DR

This paper reports the first observation of circularly polarized electroluminescence from silicon nanostructures, revealing potential for silicon-based polarized light sources through exciton recombination at doped interfaces.

Contribution

It demonstrates the first experimental evidence of circularly polarized electroluminescence from silicon nanostructures involving boron-doped quantum wells and negative-U centers.

Findings

Circularly polarized electroluminescence observed

Dependence on forward current and electric field analyzed

Recombination involves boron centers and phosphorus donors

Abstract

We present the first findings of the circularly polarized electroluminescence (CPEL) from silicon nanostructures which are the p-type ultra-narrow silicon quantum well (Si-QW) confined by {\delta}-barriers heavily doped with boron. The CPEL dependences on the forward current and lateral electric field show the circularly polarized light emission which appears to be caused by the exciton recombination through the negative-U dipole boron centers at the Si-QW - {\delta}-barriers interface with the assistance of phosphorus donors.