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“Background The past decade has seen intense interest in nanoscale structures as these materials exhibit significantly different optical and electrical properties from their bulk materials [1–4]. Si, as one of the most conventional semiconductor materials, plays an important role in microelectronics [5–7]. Its application in integrated circuits has drastically changed the way we live. However, due to its indirect bandgap structure, the weak light emission from Si limits its application for future on-chip optical interconnection.