Electroluminescence from nanoscale Si particles embedded SiO₂ films deposited on n⁺-Si and p-Si substrates

The structures of Au/Si-rich SO₂/p-Si and Au/Si-rich SiO₂/n⁺-Si have been fabricated and their electroluminescence characteristics have comparatively been studied. For the Au/Si-rich SiO₂/p-Si structure, when the forward bias is more than 4 V, red light is emitted, while under the reverse bias, no light is observed. For Au/Si-rich SiO₂/n⁺-Si structure, it does not emit light under the forward bias, but it emits red light when the reverse bias is greater than 3. 5 V. The mechanism for electroluminescence from the Au/Si-rich SiO₂/n⁺-Si structure is disscussed.