Clarifying the origin of near-infrared electroluminescence peaks for nanocrystalline germanium in metal-insulator-silicon structures

Abstract

The origin of near-infrared electroluminescence (EL) of nanocrystalline germanium (Ge) embedded in oxide was investigated. It was observed that the nanocrystals were synthesized by partial oxidation of silicon-germanium, Si 0.54Ge0.46 films. It was also observed that the Ge nanocrystals with diameters of 5 and 10 nm exhibited strong luminescence at 1350 nm. The results show that, the luminescence peak was originated from radiative recombination of excitons confined in the nanocrystals.