Translucent, a subsidiary of Australian company Silex Systems, claims to have developed electroluminescence at room temperature in silicon compatible with mass-production.
Electroluminescence is the result of radiative recombination of electrons and holes in a material resulting in the release of a photon. The company says the phenomenon is a pre-requisite to the integration of electronic and optical functionality in silicon. It would allow light to be generated from silicon by an electric current, provided by a small battery, or an operating chip itself.
According to the company, previous demonstrations of electroluminescence in silicon by other groups have been reported at cryogenic temperatures, or in forms of silicon which are not compatible with today’s chips or future technology nodes. The development is part of the Electronics and Photonics Integrated Circuits (EPIC) program funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA).
“Demonstration of electroluminescence at telecomms wavelengths and room temperature in this new class of silicon-based semiconductors is a significant achievement, and represents a materials science breakthrough for both electronic and photonic applications,” says Dr Petar Atanackovic, Translucent CEO. “The ultimate objective is to develop optically active devices, including an electrically driven silicon laser, which can be integrated with mainstream silicon chips,” he adds.
Meanwhile, Translucent is making good progress in its second project, developing silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and high-k substrates.
Silex holds a 70 percent interest in Translucent.