Nanoscale SOI silicon light source design for improved efficiency

Petrus J. Venter; Monuko du Plessis; Alfons W. Bogalecki; Christo Janse van Rensburg

doi:10.1117/12.2004235

6 March 2013 Nanoscale SOI silicon light source design for improved efficiency

Petrus J. Venter, Monuko du Plessis, Alfons W. Bogalecki, Christo Janse van Rensburg

Proceedings Volume 8628, Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits XV; 86280A (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2004235
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2013, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) is becoming an important technology platform in nanometer scale CMOS integrated circuits. The platform offers a number of distinct advantages over bulk CMOS for materializing silicon light sources based on hot carrier luminescence. This work describes the design of nanoscale silicon structures for enhanced light emission with improved power efficiency, which allows the use of SOI light sources in short-haul optical communication links with extended possibilities for other applications. It has been shown experimentally that reducing the dimensions of the active material results in an improvement of electroluminescent power emitted from forward-biased pn-junctions. Previously published results show a similar trend for light sources based on hot carrier luminescence. Building on our previous work in SOI light sources, multiple fingerlike junctions are manufactured in an arrayed fashion for coupling into large diameter core optical fibers for CMOS optical communications up to a few hundred meters. The manufacturing methodology and associated challenges are discussed for the scaling down of device dimensions, and difficulties in realizing the structures are investigated. The optical power characteristics are discussed as well as the spectral nature of emission along with the advantages and disadvantages thereof. This work compares different architectures of light sources that were implemented where a comparison is drawn between previous SOI devices as well as bulk CMOS. We believe the improved SOI light sources are fully compatible with modern CMOS technologies based on SOI and may provide such technologies with a much needed light source as part of the circuit designer’s toolkit.

Citation Download Citation

Petrus J. Venter, Monuko du Plessis, Alfons W. Bogalecki, and Christo Janse van Rensburg "Nanoscale SOI silicon light source design for improved efficiency", Proc. SPIE 8628, Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits XV, 86280A (6 March 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2004235

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