Room-temperature electroluminescence properties of Er,O-codoped GaAs injection-type light-emitting diodes grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy

Room-temperature Er-related electroluminescence (EL) properties have been investigated in Er,O-codoped GaAs (GaAs:Er,O) light-emitting diodes grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. Under forward bias, characteristic emission due to a luminescence center consisting of Er coordinated by O and As was clearly observed at room temperature. The injection current density dependence of the EL intensity and its dynamics revealed extremely large excitation cross section of 1–2×10−15 cm2. The excitation cross section for current injection (σc) is by five orders of magnitude larger than that for optical excitation (σo) in Er-doped fiber amplifiers (10−21–10−20 cm2).