Spatial and intensity modulation of light emission from a silicon LED matrix

Author

Du Plessis, Monuko ; Aharoni, Herzl ; Snyman, Lukas W.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr., Electron. & Comput. Eng., Pretoria Univ., South Africa

Volume

14

Issue

6

fYear

2002

fDate

6/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

768

Lastpage

770

Abstract

A novel experimental multiterminal silicon light emitting diode matrix is described, where both the emitted light intensity and the spatial light pattern of the device are controlled by insulated metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) gate voltages. It is found that the light intensity is a nonlinear quadratic function of the applied gate voltage. The nonlinear relationship enables, for example, the mixing of electrical input signals and modulation of the optical output signal, which can not readily be achieved with two terminal Si-light-emitting diodes, since they exhibit a linear relationship between diode avalanche current and light intensity.

Keywords

BiCMOS integrated circuits; CMOS integrated circuits; MIS devices; avalanche breakdown; elemental semiconductors; integrated optoelectronics; intensity modulation; light emitting diodes; optical modulation; silicon; BiCMOS technology; CMOS technology; MOS gate controlled diodes; MOS gate voltage control; Si; Si LED matrix; VLSI technology; applied gate voltage; avalanche breakdown; diode avalanche current; electrical input signal mixing; emitted light intensity; intensity modulation; light emission; multiterminal light emitting diode matrix; nonlinear quadratic function; optical output signal modulation; spatial light pattern; spatial modulation; Insulation; Intensity modulation; Light emitting diodes; Lighting control; Nonlinear optical devices; Nonlinear optics; Optical mixing; Optical modulation; Silicon; Voltage control;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2002.1003087

Filename

1003087