Erbium doped Si-related compound films, with the 1540 nm emission coinciding with the minimum loss window of optical telecommunication, are regarded as appealing platforms of light sources for silicon photonics. In many previous reports, however, the unipolar carrier injection in silicon oxide/nitride films leads to favorable impact excitation of Er rather than sensitization, requiring high onset voltage that is not compatible with Si microelectronics. Silicon rich oxynitride (SRON) with tunable bandgap enables equivalent bipolar injection, yet there are few reports about light emitting devices (LEDs) based on this material with Er doping. Here, sensitized electroluminescence (EL) from erbium doped SRON with an onset voltage as low as 5 V has been demonstrated. The sensitization mechanism is evaluated by correlating the evolution of charge transport in SRON films subjected to different thermal treatments with that of Er³⁺ EL. The EL can be attributed to bipolar Poole-Frenkel injection of carriers and subsequent capture by Si dangling bond related trap states, followed by energy transfer to Er³⁺ ions. These results indicate that SRON serves as a promising Er³⁺ host for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible light sources.

掺do硅相关化合物膜具有1540 nm的发射，与光通信的最小损耗窗相吻合，被认为是硅光子学的吸引人的平台。然而，在许多先前的报道中，在氧化硅/氮化物膜中的单极载流子注入导致Er的良好碰撞激发而不是敏化，这需要与Si微电子不兼容的高起始电压。具有可调带隙的富硅氧氮化物（SRON）能够实现等效的双极注入，但是很少有关于基于这种掺Er的材料的发光器件（LED）的报道。在此，已经证明了来自掺do SRON的敏感电致发光（EL），其起始电压低至5V。³⁺ EL。EL可以归因于载流子的双极Poole-Frenkel注入，以及随后通过与Si悬挂键相关的陷阱态的捕获，然后将能量转移到Er ³⁺离子上。这些结果表明，SRON可作为互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）兼容光源的有前途的Er ³⁺主体。