Electroluminescence properties of p-Si/β-FeSi2 NCs/.../n-Si mesa diodes with embedded multilayers of β-FeSi2 nanocrystallites

Light-emitting silicon diode structures with embedded beta-FeSi2 nanocrystallites have been fabricated using solid phase epitaxy and a combination of reactive deposition and solid phase epitaxy. Electroluminescence (EL) of the structures is studied over various temperatures and current densities under forward and reverse biases. We can state that beta-FeSi2 NCs formed by the combined RDE+SPE method results in the formation of high density of dislocations and point defects. In contrast, defect-free structures with beta-FeSi2 NCs formed by SPE demonstrate intense EL (eta = 1.2x10(-5) %) in the wavelength range 1.4-1.6 mu m even at room temperature. EL intensity dependence on the number of layers with embedded beta-FeSi2 NCs is almost linear for the heterostructures formed on Si(100) and sublinear for the heterostructures formed on Si(111) substrate. The increase of the initial Fe layer thickness leads to the electroluminescence quenching. (c) 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim