Study of Light Emitting Tunnel Junctions

Abstract

This study will identify the emission mechanism in light emitting tunnel junctions by comparing experimental results with models of the mechanism. Work has concentrated on Au-oxide-Al junctions almost exclusively because of their durability and the richness of their spectra. The emission spectrum has been measured as a function of bias voltage for about one hundred junctions. It was necessary to determine if any of the three surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) modes a junction support is primarily responsible for the emitted light. Our experiments show that the dominant mode is the slow mode that has maximum field strength in the barrier. The Au fast mode and the Al fast mode, with maximum field strengths at the Au-air interface and Al-substrate interface are only only marginally involved. These conclusions are independent of any attempt to calculate the emission. Work is being completed on an attempt to calculate the emission spectrum in a way that identified the processes that dominate the emission. Although this is not yet finished, results to date support the conclusion that the slow mode is mainly responsible. Keywords: Light emitting tunnel junctions; Emission mechanisms; Tunnel junctions.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA205168

Entities

People

  • James Rutledge

Organizations

  • University of California, Irvine

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Contracts
  • Day
  • Dispersion Relations
  • Electric Fields
  • Emission
  • Emission Spectra
  • Films
  • Identification
  • Light Sources
  • Military Research
  • Polaritons
  • Roughness
  • Scattering
  • Spectra
  • Surface Plasmon Polaritons
  • Surface Plasmons
  • Surface Roughness

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

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  • Structural Health Monitoring of Composite Structures.