The role of boron-induced dislocation loops on the suppression of the luminescence thermal quenching in silicon-based light-emitting diodes was investigated here. Luminescence measurements and cross-sectional transmission-electron-microscopy images from devices fabricated by B implantation into crystalline silicon, and into a pre-amorphized substrate, to prevent the boron-induced loops formation, were compared. The results showed that, in the devices incorporating dislocation loops between the depletion region and sample surface (the B induced loops), the thermal quenching was completely eliminated, in contrast with devices fabricated from the pre-amorphized substrate where strong thermal quenching was still observed.

On the Role of Dislocation Loops in Silicon Light-Emitting Diodes. M.A.Lourenço, M.Milosavljevi, R.M.Gwilliam, K.P.Homewood, G.Shao: Applied Physics Letters, 2005, 87[20], 201105 (3pp)