Room temperature magneto-optic effect in silicon light-emitting diodes

Chiodi, F., Bayliss, S. L. , Barast, L., Débarre, D., Bouchiat, H., Friend, R. H. and Chepelianskii, A. D. (2018) Room temperature magneto-optic effect in silicon light-emitting diodes. Nature Communications, 9, 398. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02804-6) (PMID:29374170) (PMCID:PMC5785965)

Abstract

In weakly spin–orbit coupled materials, the spin-selective nature of recombination can give rise to large magnetic-field effects, e.g. on the electro-luminescence of molecular semiconductors. Although silicon has weak spin–orbit coupling, observing spin-dependent recombination through magneto-electroluminescence is challenging: silicon’s indirect band-gap causes an inefficient emission and it is difficult to separate spin-dependent phenomena from classical magneto-resistance effects. Here we overcome these challenges and measure magneto-electroluminescence in silicon light-emitting diodes fabricated via gas immersion laser doping. These devices allow us to achieve efficient emission while retaining a well-defined geometry, thus suppressing classical magnetoresistance effects to a few percent. We find that electroluminescence can be enhanced by up to 300% near room temperature in a seven Tesla magnetic field, showing that the control of the spin degree of freedom can have a strong impact on the efficiency of silicon LEDs.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bayliss, Dr Sam
• Authors: Chiodi, F., Bayliss, S. L., Barast, L., Débarre, D., Bouchiat, H., Friend, R. H., and Chepelianskii, A. D.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: Nature Communications
• Publisher: Nature Research
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• ISSN (Online): 2041-1723
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Nature Communications 9: 398
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License