High efficiency silicon light emitting device and modulator
First Claim
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1. A light emitting device with alterable emission characteristics, the device comprising:
- a light emitting portion comprising a pn junction for emission of light by application of current to flow through the pn junction; and
means for applying an electric field across the light emitting portion by applying a voltage to one or more contacts that are electrically isolated from the pn junction in order to alter a light emission characteristic of the light emitting portion.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a high performance silicon light emitting device. A method and device providing both emission and modulation from a single device is provided, with modulation of the emission characteristics being achieved by application of an electric field across the device, so as to induce quantum confined Stark effects, Franz-Keldysh effects or the like.
38 Citations
85 Claims
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1. A light emitting device with alterable emission characteristics, the device comprising:
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a light emitting portion comprising a pn junction for emission of light by application of current to flow through the pn junction; and
means for applying an electric field across the light emitting portion by applying a voltage to one or more contacts that are electrically isolated from the pn junction in order to alter a light emission characteristic of the light emitting portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A method of altering light emissions from a light emitting diode, the method comprising the step of:
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applying a current across a pn junction of the light emitting diode to cause the light emitting diode to emit light; and
applying an electric field across the light emitting diode portion by applying a voltage to one or more contacts that are electrically isolated from the pn junction so as to alter light emission characteristics of the light emitting diode. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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- 69. A silicon light emitting device comprising an emitting surface having geometry for directing emissions in a predetermined direction.
- 72. A silicon light emitting device with surface geometry adapted to control the passage of light in the device so as to improve absorption.
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75. A method of design of a silicon light emitting diode, comprising the step of designing a silicon device having high light absorption, for reverse operation as a light emitting diode.
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76. A light modulator comprising:
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a layer of silicon, to be positioned in the path of light to be modulated; and
means to apply an electric field across the silicon layer so as to alter the bandgap of the silicon layer, thus controlling whether light is absorbed by the silicon layer or transmitted through the silicon layer. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80)
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81. A method of modulating light, the method comprising the steps of:
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positioning a layer of silicon in the path of the light; and
applying an electric field across the thin silicon layer so as to alter the bandgap of the silicon layer, thus controlling whether light is absorbed by the silicon layer or transmitted through the silicon layer. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84, 85)
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Specification