A silicon/iron-disllicide light-emitting diode operating at a wavelength of 1.5 μm

Although silicon has long been the material of choice for most microelectronic applications, it is a poor emitter of light (a consequence of having an 'indirect' bandgap), so hampering the development of integrated silicon optoelectronic devices. This problem has motivated numerous attempts to develop silicon-based structures with good light-emission characteristics, particularly at wavelengths (~1.5 μm) relevant to optical fibre communication. For example, silicon-germanium superlattice structures can result in a material with a pseudo-direct bandgap that emits at ~1.5 μm, and doping silicon with erbium introduces an internal optical transition having a similar emission wavelength, although neither approach has led to practical devices. In this context, β-iron disilicide has attracted recent interest as an optically active, direct-bandgap material that might be compatible with existing silicon processing technology. Here we report the realization of a light-emitting device operating at 1.5 μm that incorporates β-FeSi₂ into a conventional silicon bipolar junction. We argue that this result demonstrates the potential of β-FeSi₂ as an important candidate for a silicon-based optoelectronic technology.