Stable room-temperature light emission from metal-insulator-metal junctions

Abstract
Stable room‐temperature light emission has been observed from planar Mg‐MgO‐Ag junctions. The light emission is presumably due to roughness‐induced radative decay of surface plasma modes excited by tunneling electrons. Roughening of the planar tunnel structure is obtained by growth of a plateletlike structure during slow evaporation of the Mg film.