PHOTRONICS: THE GENERATION OF LIGHT IN SILICON P-N JUNCTIONS AND THE OPTICAL COUPLING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

Abstract

Silicon p-n junctions coupled by a light pipe were evaluated as a means for the generation, transmission, and reception of photons which would serve to transfer an electrical signal from one circuit to another without electrical interconnection. The reverse-current radiation of these junctions ranged from > 3 eV to < 0.5 eV with a maximum at about 0.56 eV. The best internal efficiency observed was about 2.5 X 10 to the minus fourth power photon per electron for a p -n diode made on 1.2-ohm-cm silicon. Forward-current radiation was produced with the best efficiency in an n -p diode made on 0.05- ohm-cm silicon which yielded about 6.1 X 10 to the minus fourth power photons per electron. The radiation has a maximum at about 1.1 eV with a width of a few tenths of an eV at room temperature. On a power basis the forward-current radiation is produced with about two orders of magnitude greater efficiency than reverse-current radiation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1963
Accession Number
AD0413909

Entities

People

  • M. A. Gilleo

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Band Structures
  • Charge Carriers
  • Electronic Circuits
  • Energy Bands
  • Fiber Optics
  • Gallium Arsenides
  • Laser Diodes
  • Light Sources
  • Optical Properties
  • Optics
  • Optoelectronic Devices
  • P-N Junctions
  • Refractive Index
  • Semiconductor Devices
  • Semiconductors
  • Transducers
  • Transistors

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Solar Photovoltaics and Thermoelectric Devices.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics