Ultraviolet electroluminescence properties from devices based on n-ZnO/i-NiO/p-Si light-emitting diode

We fabricated the Ultraviolet light-emitting diode (LED) based on n-ZnO/i-NiO/p-Si heterostructure by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The device exhibited diode-like rectifying characteristics with a turn-on voltage of 3.2 V. The NiO film with high resistance state and [200] preferred orientation acted as an electron blocking layer, which produced a larger ZnO/NiO conduction band offset of 2.93 eV than that of ZnO/Si (0.30 eV). Under forward bias, prominent ultraviolet emissions peaked around 375 nm accompanying with rather weak blue-white emissions peaked around 480 nm were observed at room temperature. Furthermore, the mechanism of the electroluminescence was tentatively discussed in terms of the band diagram of the diode.