Defect-induced luminescence from ion-implanted silicon: Towards silicon photonics applications

This proposal builds on the exciting recent development by our team of a silicon light emitting diode stimulated from interstitial defect clusters in silicon. The overall aim of the research is to broadly explore defect-induced luminescence from silicon in light of our new findings and optimize processing steps to fabricate efficient silicon light sources and thus pursue the elusive room temperature, electrically pumped silicon laser. Our approach is significant in that, if successful, it will advance the all-optical chip and its full integration with a silicon microprocessor chip, facilitating a complete information processing and communication system.