SBIR Phase I: Room Temperature Silicon-compatible Nano-LED/Laser Electrically Pumped by Silicon Field Emission Device

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在开发与硅(Si)兼容的光源，使电子和光子组件能够在同一个Si平台上实现单片集成。研究了一种利用超高密度自由电子将锗(Ge)从间接带隙转换为准直接带隙材料的新的电泵浦方案。其目的是在Ge薄膜中实现强电致发光，从而证明在互补金属氧化物半导体(CMOS)工艺流程中制造电泵浦纳米LED或激光器的可行性。这个项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是光电子技术的根本性突破，这将使开发和营销通信系统的行业受益，甚至可能发生革命性的变化，因为它将填补最后缺失的一环？光源？在一个低成本的硅平台上实现光子和电子电路的真正单片集成所需的。具有潜在巨大市场的广泛应用将成为可能，从芯片到芯片光继电器到长途光通信。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop silicon (Si) compatible light sources that will enable monolithic integration of electronic and photonic components on the same Si platform. A novel electrical pumping scheme will be investigated to convert germanium (Ge) from an indirect-bandgap to a pseudo-direct-bandgap material using ultra-high-density free electrons. The objective is to realize strong electroluminescence in the Ge thin film and thus demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating an electrically pumped nano-LED or laser within the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process flow. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be a fundamental breakthrough in photonics technology that will benefit and possibly even revolutionize the industry that develops and markets communication systems, because it will supply the last missing link ? the light source ? required for true monolithic integration of photonic and electronic circuits on one low-cost Si platform. Extensive applications with potentially enormous markets would be enabled, ranging from chip-to-chip optical relays to long-haul optical communications.