Enhanced light emission in Si-nanoclusters arrays

An array of silicon nanoclusters aimed at producing light emission upon injection of electrons and holes from external sources is studied by Monte Carlo simulations. The conditions for obtaining a significant charge accumulation in the emitting nanoclusters are investigated as a function of array geometry and applied electric fields. It is found that if a stationary state, reached for an applied field F<Subscript>0</Subscript>, is suddenly perturbed by a field F<Subscript>1</Subscript>≫F<Subscript>0</Subscript>, a significant increase in electron-hole pairs population can be obtained with respect to the case of a single field of constant intensity F<Subscript>1</Subscript>, leading to enhanced light emission when the conductivity of the array is above 6×10<Superscript>-10</Superscript> [ Ω cm] <Superscript>-1</Superscript>. The excess population thus created gets fully recombined on the time scale of milliseconds, suggesting a device that can produce enhanced light emission in the range of kilohertz. Copyright EDP Sciences/Società Italiana di Fisica/Springer-Verlag 2006