Towards integrated tunable all-silicon free-electron light sources.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31320664.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-11070-7 and PMC identifier 6639370.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Extracting light from silicon is a longstanding challenge in modern engineering and physics. While silicon has underpinned the past 70 years of electronics advancement, a facile tunable and efficient silicon-based light source remains elusive. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the generation of tunable radiation from a one-dimensional, all-silicon nanograting. Light is generated by the spontaneous emission from the interaction of these nanogratings with low-energy free electrons (2-20 keV) and is recorded in the wavelength range of 800-1600 nm, which includes the silicon transparency window. Tunable free-electron-based light generation from nanoscale silicon gratings with efficiencies approaching those from metallic gratings is demonstrated. We theoretically investigate the feasibility of a scalable, compact, all-silicon tunable light source comprised of a silicon Field Emitter Array integrated with a silicon nanograting that emits at telecommunication wavelengths. Our results reveal the prospects of a CMOS-compatible electrically-pumped silicon light source for possible applications in the mid-infrared and telecommunication wavelengths.