Nanobox array for silicon-on-insulator luminescence enhancement at room temperature

We report the light extraction enhancement obtained at room temperature from a square lattice of crystalline silicon nanoboxes etched in a silicon-on-insulator substrate. Luminescence spectra recorded under optical pumping show a 125 times emission enhancement as compared with the reference unpatterned silicon-on-insulator emission. In light of band diagram calculations, it is demonstrated that the emission enhancement partially results from the coupling between electron-hole recombination inside the silicon boxes and low group velocity optical modes of the array. Moreover, it is observed that these modes present different decoupling lengths and that a complete extraction of luminescence ca…