摘要：SummaryHere we demonstrate a novel and robust mechanism, termed as “current-induced Joule heating activated thermal tunneling excitation,” to achieve electroluminescence (EL) by the hot electron-hole-pair recombination in a single highly compensated semiconductor microrod. The radiative luminescence is electrically excited under ambient conditions. The current-induced Joule heating reduces the thermal tunneling excitation threshold of voltage down to 8 V and increases the EL efficiency ~4.4-fold at 723 K. We interpret this novel phenomenon by a thermal tunneling excitation model corrected by electric-induced Joule heating effect. The mechanism is confirmed via theoretical calculation and experimental demonstration, for the first time. The color-tunable EL emission is also achieved by regulation of donor concentration. This work opens up new opportunities for design of novel multi-color light-emitting devices by homogeneous defect-engineered semiconductors in future.Graphical AbstractDisplay OmittedHighlights•Current-induced thermal tunneling EL is found in a homogeneous HC-ZnO microrod•The high temperature is beneficial to the current-induced thermal tunneling EL•The tunneling mechanism of Joule-heating-facilitated excitation is revealed•The color-tunable EL emission is demonstrated by regulation of donor concentrationOptical Materials; Devices; Materials Design
