A MOS-like low operating voltage gate-controlled silicon-based light-emitting device is designed and fabricated using 0.18μm standard CMOS technology. The light emitting device adapts a n

+

-p

+

-p

+

-n

+

-p

+

-p

+

-n

+

interdigital structure

in which a poly-Si gate between two adjacent p

+

regions working as a third-terminal control electrode was designed. The poly-Si gate is used to produce field-induced junctions at the edge of source/drain region

so as to decrease the breakdown v

oltage of p

+

/n-well junction and increase optical power of the device. The measured results indicate that the device can emit yellow visible light with wavelength from 420nm to 780nm. Under forward gate voltage of 3V

the breakdown voltage of p

+

/n-well junction can be reduced to below 3V

and the optical power can be increased to more than twice. Because of its low operating voltage and full compatibility with CMOS technology

the device can be integrated with other CMOS circuits by using a single power supply

which has certain applications in the field of silicon-based optoelectronic integration.