Carrier-induced quenching processes on the erbium luminescence in silicon nanocluster devices

The luminescence-quenching processes limiting quantum efficiency in Er-doped silicon nanocluster light-emitting devices are investigated and identified. It is found that carrier injection, while needed to excite Er ions through electron-hole recombination, at the same time produces an efficient nonradiative Auger deexcitation with trapped carriers. This phenomenon is studied in detail and, on the basis of its understanding, we propose device structures in which sequential injection of electrons and holes can improve quantum efficiency by avoiding Auger processes. © 2006 The American Physical Society.