Inelastic-scattering tunnel electrons towards an electrically driven single-photon light source (Conference Presentation)

We show that inelastically-scattering tunnel electrons are a source for electric plasmon generation. We experimentally demonstrate such electrically-driven light-emitting tunnel junction by forward biasing a Fermi sea against a doped semiconductor across a nanometer-thin tunnel gap. Light emission at room temperature is found in the visible frequency range corresponding to a spectral power dependency of the tunnel current and the plasmonic mode. The response time (speed) of such a tunnel junction scales inverse exponentially with the tunnel gap thickness approaching Tpbs for