Room-Temperature 1.54 µm Light Emission from Er,O-Codoped GaAs/GaInP Light-Emitting Diodes Grown by Low-Pressure Organometallic Vapor Phase Epitaxy

We report on room-temperature 1.54 µm electroluminescence, for the first time, of Er,O-codoped GaAs/GaInP double-heterostructure light emitting diodes grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. The luminescence is due to intra-4 f shell transition from the first excited state to the ground state of Er 3+ ions. The erbium and oxygen were uniformly doped in the GaAs active layer with a concentration of 8 × 10 18 cm -3 . Emission lines in the spectrum indicated successful formation of the Er-2O center and a preferential excitation of the center by current injection. The intensity of the main line observed at 1.538 µm increased linearly with current density and exhibited a tendency to saturate at a current density higher than 20 A/cm 2 .