An efficient Si light-emitting diode based on an n- ZnO/SiO2-Si nanocrystals-SiO2/p-Si heterostructure.

Si nanocrystals embedded in a SiO2 matrix and an n-type Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) layer were applied to improve the external quantum efficiency from Si in n- ZnO/SiO2-Si nanocrystals-SiO2/p-Si heterojunction light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The Si nanocrystals were grown by low pressure chemical vapor deposition and the ZnO:Al layer was prepared by atomic layer deposition. The n-type ZnO:Al layer acts as an electron injection layer, a transparent conductive window, and an anti-reflection coating to increase the light extraction efficiency. Owing to the spatial confinement of carriers and surface passivation by the surrounding SiO2, the Si nanocrystals embedded in the SiO2 matrix lead to a significant enhancement of the light emission efficiency from Si. An external quantum efficiency up to 4.3 x 10(-4) at the wavelength corresponding to the indirect bandgap of Si was achieved at room temperature.

Amplified spontaneous emission from ZnO in n-ZnO/ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite/p-AlGaN heterojunction light-emitting diodes.

This study demonstrates amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of the ultraviolet (UV) electroluminescence (EL) from ZnO at lambda~380 nm in the n-ZnO/ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite/p- Al(0.12)Ga(0.88)N heterojunction light-emitting diode. A SiO(2) layer embedded with ZnO nanodots was prepared on the p-type Al(0.12)Ga(0.88)N using spin-on coating of SiO(2) nanoparticles followed by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of ZnO. An n-type Al-doped ZnO layer was deposited upon the ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite layer also by the ALD technique. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals that the ZnO nanodots embedded in the SiO(2) matrix have diameters of 3-8 nm and the wurtzite crystal structure, which allows the transport of carriers through the thick ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite layer. The high quality of the n-ZnO layer was manifested by the well crystallized lattice image in the HRTEM picture and the low-threshold optically pumped stimulated emission. The low refractive index of the ZnO nanodots-SiO(2) composite layer results in the increase in the light extraction efficiency from n-ZnO and the internal optical feedback of UV EL into n-ZnO layer. Consequently, significant enhancement of the UV EL intensity and super-linear increase in the EL intensity, as well as the spectral narrowing, with injection current were observed owing to ASE in the n-ZnO layer.