a LERMAT, unité CNRS 6004, 6 Bd Maréchal Juin, 14050 Caen cedex, France
b Departament d'Electrònica, Unitat Associada CNM-CSIC, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda Diagonal 645-647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Abstract:
Si particles embedded in an SiO2 matrix were obtained by co-sputtering of Si and SiO2 at various deposition temperatures Td (200–700°C) and annealing at different temperatures Ta (900–1100°C). The systems were characterized by X-ray photoelectron, Raman scattering, infrared absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy techniques. The results show that the photoluminescence efficiency is strongly dependent on the degree of phase separation between the Si nanocrystals and the SiO2 matrix. This is likely connected with the Si/SiO2 interface characteristics, together with the features indicating the involvement of quantum confinement.