Improvement in silicon band edge emission with incorporation of boron

Abstract

We report the improvement in silicon band-edge emission when defects are deliberately introduced in the lattice structures. Silicon is a poor light-emitter due to its indirect bandgap nature. This paper aims to increase the intensity of the light emission from silicon by implantation of boron which will lead to the formation of dislocation loops between the lattice structures. Prior to that, the silicon samples were implanted with high concentration of carbon. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements were carried out to observe the emission in silicon at near infrared region. The temperatures were varied from 10K to 100K to study the effect of temperature towards the peak luminescence intensity. By observing the PL spectra, there are two main peaks that can be seen at ~1112 nm and 1170 nm. Both peaks show significantly higher intensities in the samples incorporated with boron.