Opportunities for Employing IGBT in Photo-switch based on Silicon Avalanche LEDs

A comprehensive approach for the practical realization of silicon light-emitting devices (Si-LEDs) with emitting visible light in the 400 to 900 nm wavelength region is discussed. Prototype Si-LEDs are fabricated in the standard CMOS technology, using the same processing procedures with other components. Since fully integrated silicon photon-receivers with Si-LED on the same chip will largely improve the overall system performance, monolithic integration leads to lower cost and smaller size. Some structural details and performances of several practical two and threeterminal Si-LEDs are presented. In this paper, we report on further progress that has been made with regard to modeling of the physical processes in realizing an increase in the optical emission power, as well with regard to higher frequency modulation capability of such device. The theory of silicon optical modulation based on p-n junction in reverse bias is primarily discussed. Initial investigations indicate that the Si-LEDs have a very fast inherent modulation bandwidth capability, and the upper limit derived value for the expected maximum modulation of the device could be in the range of a few hundred GHz. According to the best of our knowledge, despite the low efficiency, the Si-LEDs show potential for on-chip electro-optical communication.