Hot carrier induced photon emission in submicron GaAs devices

Abstract

The authors present a study of impact ionization phenomena in GaAs MESFETs and AlGaAs-GaAs HEMTs (high electron mobility transistors) occurring at high drain voltages. This analysis has been performed by analyzing the gate current due to the collection of holes generated by impact ionization and light emission. The authors present the relationship of gate current with simulated electric field in the channel, the electroluminescence spectra in the 1.1-3.1-eV energy range, and the correlation of integrated light intensity with the product of the electron and hole current which suggests that the recombination process is the main mechanism for visible light emission.<>