Si Wafer Dopant Concentration Effect on Light Emission of Solid State Incandescent Light Emitting Devices

Electrical and light emitting characteristics of solid state incandescent light emission devices made on p-type silicon wafers of various dopant concentrations have been studied. The number of conductive paths, i.e., nano-resistors, formed from the dielectric breakdown increased with the increase of the dopant concentration in the wafer, which is accompanied with the increase of the intensity of the emitted light. The breakdown voltage decreased with the increase of the dopant concentration. There exists a transition dopant concentration where the light intensity and the leakage current increase drastically with the increase of the dopant concentration. In summary, the dopant concentration in the silicon wafer is critical to the light emitting phenomenon of the solid state incandescent light emitting device.