High power efficiency in Si-nc/SiO2 multilayer light emitting devices by bipolar direct tunneling

We demonstrate experimentally bipolar (electrons and holes) current injection into silicon nanocrystals in thin nanocrystalline-Si/SiO2 multilayers. These light emitting devices have power efficiency of 0.17% and turn-on voltage of 1.7 V. The high electroluminescence efficiency and low onset voltages are attributed to the radiative recombination of excitons formed by both electron and hole injection into silicon nanocrystals via the direct tunneling mechanism. To confirm the bipolar character, different devices were grown, with and without a thick silicon oxide barrier at the multilayer contact electrodes. A transition from bipolar tunneling to unipolar Fowler–Nordheim tunneling is thus observed.