Photoluminescence of Si or Ge nanocrystallites embedded in silicon oxide

This paper presents the results of photoluminescence, its temperature dependence and Raman scattering investigations on magnetron co-sputtered silicon oxide films with (or without) embedded Si (or Ge) nanocrystallites. It is shown the oxide related defect origin of the visible PL centers peaked at 1.7, 2.06 and 2.30 eV. The infrared PL band centered at 1.44–1.58 eV in Si–SiO_x, system has been analyzed within a quantum confinement PL model. Comparative PL investigation of Ge–SiO_x system has confirmed that high energy visible PL bands (1.60–1.70 and 2.30 eV) are connected with oxide related defects in SiO_x. The PL band in the spectral range of 0.75–0.85 eV in Ge–SiO_x system is attributed to exciton recombination inside of Ge NCs.     

Correlation between the 2.7 eV and 4.3 eV photoluminescence bands in silica glass

Our previous studies have reported the excitation energy dependence of the 2.7 and 4.3 eV photoluminescence (PL) bands in oxygen deficient silica glass at low temperature (∼20 K). An oxygen vacancy (O₃SiSiO₃) was thought to be the origin of the two PL bands. In order to verify the origin of the 2.7 and 4.3 eV PL bands in silica glass, we measured the PL band of various thermally heat treated silica glasses. In the sample after heat treatment, we did not observe the 4.3 eV PL band, though we did observe the 2.7 eV PL band. These results suggest that these two PL bands do not have a common origin.     

Photoluminescence of Si nanocrystallites in different types of matrices

This paper presents the comparative investigation of photoluminescence (PL) and its temperature dependence for rf-magnetron co-sputtered Si-enriched SiO_x systems and amorphous Si films prepared by hot-wire CVD method with Si nanocrystallites of different sizes. It is shown that PL spectra of Si–SiO_x films consist of the five PL bands peaked at 1.30, 1.50, 1.76, 2.05 and 2.32 eV. Amorphous Si films with Si nanocrystallites are characterized by three PL bands only peaked at 1.35, 1.50 and 1.76 eV. The peak position of the 1.50 eV PL band shifts with the change of Si quantum dot sizes and it is attributed to exciton recombination inside of Si quantum dots. The nature of four other PL bands is discussed as well.     

Low-temperature Er3+ emission in Ge–S–Ga glasses excited by host absorption

The photoluminescence (PL) of a series of (GeS₂)₈₀(Ga₂S₃)₂₀ glasses doped with different amounts of Er (0.17, 0.35, 0.52, 1.05 and 1.39 at.%) at 77 and 4.2 K has been studied. The influence of the temperature on the emission cross-section of the PL bands at ∼1540, 980 and 820 nm under host excitation has been defined. A quenching effect of the host photoluminescence has been established from the compositional dependence of the PL intensity. It has been found that the present Er³⁺-doped Ge–S–Ga glasses posses PL lifetime values about 3.25 ms.     

Photoluminescence properties of erbium-doped structures of silicon nanocrystals in silicon dioxide matrix

We present a study of the photoluminescence (PL) of structures of Si nanocrystals (nc-Si) in erbium-doped amorphous silicon dioxide. It is shown that the energy of excitons confined in nc-Si of 2–5 nm sizes is efficiently transferred to Er³⁺ ions in surrounding SiO₂ and a strong PL line at 1.5 μm appears. At high excitation intensity the population inversion of Er³⁺ ion states is achieved. These results demonstrate good perspectives of Er-doped nc-Si/SiO₂ structures for possible applications in Si-based optical amplifiers and lasers.     

The effects of ZnO coating on the photoluminescence properties of porous silicon for the advanced optoelectronic devices

In the present work we investigate, the role of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films passivating layer deposited by rf magnetron sputtering at room temperature on low (18%) and high (80%) porosity porous silicon (PS). The micro-Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis have been carried out to understand the effect of ZnO films coating on PS. A systematic investigation from Raman spectroscopy suggests the formation of a good quality ZnO wurtzite structure on PS. The photoluminescence (PL) measurements on PS and ZnO coated PS shows a red, blue and UV emission bands at around ～1.8, ～2.78 and ～3.2 eV. An enhancement of all PL emission bands have been achieved after ZnO films deposition on high porosity PS.     

Photoluminescence in silicon rich oxide thin films under different thermal treatments

Photoluminescence (PL) was studied in silicon rich oxide (with the atomic percentage ranges of Si from 35% to 75%) thin film samples, fabricated by the plasma assisted CVD technique. A broad PL peak, blue-shifted from the bulk silicon band edge of ～1.1 eV, was observed. In one typical sample, the PL peak intensity shows a non-monotonic temperature dependence. This non-monotonic dependence was also observed in previous work by others and attributed to an energy splitting between the excitonic singlet and triplet levels in silicon nanocrystals, a consequence of quantum confinement effect. Finally, in more than 20 samples under different thermal treatments (with the annealing temperature range from 800 °C to 1100 °C), the wavelength of PL peak was observed to be pinned between ～900 and ～1000 nm, independent of thermal budget. This pinning effect, we believe, is probably due to the formation of oxygen-related interface states.     

Enhancement of photoluminescence in SiCxNy nanoparticle films by addition of a Ni buffer layer

This work reports the effect of the presence of a Ni buffer layer on the photoluminescence (PL) of SiC_xN_y nanoparticle films prepared by RF plasma magnetron sputtering process in a reactive N₂ + Ar + H₂ gas mixture. An introduction of a Ni buffer of 80 nm or thicker remarkably improves the PL of the films. Annealing in a temperature range of 400–1100 °C is found to significantly affect the PL intensity. Optimal PL is achievable at 600 °C. X-ray photoelectron and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy suggest that the strong PL is directly related to the composition of the SiC_xN_y nanoparticle and the concentration of Si–O, and Si–N bonds. The results are relevant to the development of wide bandgap optoelectronic devices.     

Correlation between the photoluminescence and different types of Si nano-clusters in amorphous silicon

This paper presents the results of PL spectrum study for Si nano-clusters in amorphous silicon matrix. The hydrogenated amorphous Si layers were prepared by the hot-wire CVD method on glass substrates. The layers were deposited at different wafer temperatures 280, 360, 420 and 460 °C and at one filament temperature of 1650 °C. The joint analysis of PL and X-ray diffraction spectra in dependence on the technological conditions and on different sizes of Si nano-clusters has been done. The mechanisms of PL are discussed as well.     

Porous silicon grains in SiO2 matrix: Ultrafast photoluminescence and optical gain

We search for the presence of stimulated emission in samples of porous silicon embedded in the sol–gel derived SiO₂ matrix. By modifying the etching conditions of the porous silicon using hydrogen peroxide, we decrease substantially the nanocrystal size and produce a significant blue shift of the PL emission. Femtosecond variable-stripe length experiments combined with the shifting-excited spot technique demonstrates positive optical gain (modal gain ∼25 cm⁻¹) in the range 550–730 nm. Ultrafast photoluminescence dynamics indicates the origin of the stimulated emission as possibly due to recombination of excitonic states inside silicon nanocrystals.     

Size dependent photoluminescence of SiC nanocrystals

The paper presents the results of porous SiC study using photoluminescence and scanning electronic microscopy. It is shown that the intensity of defect-related PL bands (2.08, 2.27, 2.44 and 2.63 eV) increases monotonically with the rise of PSiC thickness from 2.1 up to 12.0 μm. These luminescence centers are assigned to surface defects which appear at the PSiC etching process. Photoluminescence intensity stimulation for surface defects is attributed to rise of defect concentrations with increasing of porous layer thickness and to realization of the hot carrier ballistic mechanism at surface defect excitation. Intensity enhancement for exciton-related PL bands (2.79, 2.98 and 3.26 eV ) is attributed to increasing the exciton recombination rate as result of exciton weak confinement in big size SiC NCs of different polytypes (6H–PSiC with inclusions of 15R- and 4H–PSiC).     

Compositional trends in low-temperature photoluminescence of heavily Er-doped GeS2–Ga2S3 glasses

The influence of temperature and glass composition on the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency of Er³⁺ ions embedded in (GeS₂)_100?x(Ga₂S₃)_x (x = 20, 25 and 33 mol%) glasses has been studied. The typical 4f–4f emission bands of Er³⁺ ions at around 830, 1000 and 1550 nm have been observed in the whole investigated temperature range from 300 K down to 10 K for all the compositions. New 4f–4f luminescence bands, in excess of the three basic ones, have been observed at 670, 870, 1120, 1260 and 1350 nm for (GeS₂)₇₅(Ga₂S₃)₂₅ glass composition, and are tentatively assigned to ²H_9/2 → ⁴I_11/2, ⁴G_11/2 → ⁴F_9/2, ²H_11/2 → ⁴I_11/2, ⁴F_7/2 → ⁴I_9/2 and ⁴F_3/2 → ⁴I_9/2 transitions, respectively. Thus a considerable influence of GeGaS host composition on the efficiency of 4f–4f transitions of embedded Er³⁺ ions is documented with the outcome that (GeS₂)₇₅Ga₂S₃)₂₅ composition appears near optimal for the emission efficiency of Er³⁺ ions. With decreasing temperature the PL efficiency is enhanced considerably with pronounced narrowing of all bands. In the case of the strongest PL band at ~ 1550 nm, corresponding to ⁴I_13/2 → ⁴I_15/2 transition, the narrowing at low temperature is further accompanied by the resolution of well pronounced fine structure due to “crystal field” splitting of corresponding electronic terms. The relationship between the photoluminescence and reflectance spectra as a function of Er content has been discussed.     

Preparation and properties of europium-doped phosphosilicate glasses obtained by the sol–gel method

In this work, we report the synthesis of europium-doped phosphosilicate glasses from tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), phenyltrietoxysilane (PTES) and ammonium phosphate (NH₄H₂PO₄) prepared by the sol–gel process. The matrix was synthesized by modified Stöber methodology. The alkoxide precursors PTES and TEOS were mixed with NH₄H₂PO₄, in the presence of europium III chloride, using ethanol as solvent in basic catalysis. These materials were studied by photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), thermal analysis (TGA/DTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results obtained for the materials show the formation of conchoidal-fractures, which are characteristics of glass materials. The thermal analysis showed the thermal stability of materials up to 300 °C. Eu III has been used as structural probe due to its photophysical properties. The PL spectra displays the lines characteristics of the Eu (III) ion ⁵D₀ → ⁷F_J (J = 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4). Wide bands were observed, indicating non-homogeneous sites that are characteristic of amorphous systems.     

On the optical absorption and photoluminescence of Er-doped Ge–S–Ga glasses

We have studied the absorption and photoluminescence (PL) of (GeS₂)₈₀(Ga₂S₃)₂₀ glasses doped with 0.17, 0.35 and 1.05 at.% Er. The sharp bands centered at around 660, 810, 980 and 1540 nm in the absorption spectra can be associated with intra 4f-shell transitions in Er³⁺ ions from ⁴I_15/2 level to ⁴F_9/2, ⁴I_9/2, ⁴I_11/2 and ⁴I_13/2 levels, respectively. It has been observed that the absorption edge shifts towards lower energies with increasing Er concentration. A decrease in the absorption coefficient in the range of weak absorption, as well as the host luminescence in more heavily doped samples has been established, which may be associated with less native defects in the glassy structure. The role of excitation wavelength (λ_ex) on the PL emission band at 1540 nm using different Er³⁺-doping level has been evaluated. It has been found that the total PL band remains almost the same under direct excitation of Er³⁺ ions (at λ_ex = 644, 770 and 982 nm), while it becomes narrower under the host excitation (at λ_ex = 532 nm).     

Understanding the photoluminescence over 13-decade lifetime distribution in a-Si:H

Wideband quadrature frequency resolved spectroscopy (QFRS) expanded from 2 ns to 160 s revealed that the triple-peaked lifetime distribution observed in the photoluminescence (PL) of a-Si:H consists of the well-known double-peak structure and a newly identified third component. By the exploring dependence of the lifetime distribution on the generation rate G, temperature T, PL emission energy E_PL, PL excitation energy E_X and external magnetic field, the former is assigned to excitonic recombination and the latter to distant-pair (DP) or nongeminate recombination. The DP component gives the same sublinear G and T dependence as light-induced electron spin resonance (LESR) results. The present paper also shows that the residual PL decay in a-Si:H persists for more than 10⁴ s, which corresponds the DP component and agrees with the LESR results. The residual PL decay reveals that the DP recombination kinetics is monomolecular at low T and low G.     

Photoluminescence study of AlGaInP/GaInP quantum well intermixing induced by zinc impurity diffusion

AlGaInP/GaInP quantum well intermixing phenomena induced by Zn impurity diffusion at 540 °C were studied using room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. As the diffusion time increased from 40 to 120 min, PL blue shift taken on the AlGaInP/GaInP quantum well regions increased from 36.3 to 171.6 meV. Moreover, when the diffusion time was equal to or above 60 min, it was observed firstly that a PL red shift occurred with a PL blue shift on the samples. After detailed analysis, it was found that the red-shift PL spectra were measured on the Ga_0.51In_0.49P buffer layer of the samples, and the mechanism of the PL red shift and the PL blue shift were studied qualitatively.     

Investigation of hopping transport in n-a-Si:H/c-Si solar cells with pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance

Hopping transport through heterostructure solar cells based on B-doped crystalline silicon wafers with highly P-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon emitters with different thicknesses is investigated at T = 10 K with pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance. The measurements show that transport is dominated by conduction band tail states (g ≈ 2.0046) with a distribution of their mutual coupling strength. The signal intensity correlates to the sample thickness and the g-factors do not exhibit an anisotropy which suggests that transport is still dominated by bulk properties of amorphous silicon. In addition, two broad P-donor hyperfine satellites can be detected. Influences of interface defects such as P_b-like states known from silicon dioxide interfaces are either suppressed by the high Fermi energy at the interface or not present.     

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of ZnO thin films

Zinc oxide thin films were deposited on silicon and corning-7059 glass substrates by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition at different substrate temperatures ranging from 36 to 400 °C and with different gas flow rates. Diethylzinc as the source precursor, H₂O as oxidizer and argon as carrier gas were used for the preparation of ZnO films. Structural and optical properties of these films were investigated using X-ray diffraction, reflection high energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy and photoluminescence. Highly oriented films with (0 0 2) preferred planes were obtained on silicon kept at 300 °C with 50 ml/min flow rate of diethylzinc without any post annealing. Reflection high energy electron diffraction pattern also showed the crystalline nature of these films. A textured surface with rms roughness ∼28 nm was observed by atomic force microscopy for the films deposited at 300 °C. A sharp peak at 380 nm in the PL spectra indicated the UV band-edge emission.     

Absorption and luminescence in amorphous SixGe1-xO2 films fabricated by SPCVD

Optical absorption and photoluminescence of Ge-doped silica films fabricated by the surface-plasma chemical vapor deposition (SPCVD) are studied in the 2–8 eV spectral band. The deposited on silica substrate films of about 10 μm in thickness are composed as x·GeO₂-(1-x)·SiO₂ with x ranging from 0.02 to 1. It is found that all as‐deposited films do not luminesce under the excitation by a KrF (5 eV) excimer laser, thus indicating lack of oxygen deficient centers (ODCs) in them. After subsequent fusion of silicon containing (x < 1) films by a scanning focused CO₂ laser beam absorption band centered at 5 eV as well as two luminescence bands centered at blue (3.1 eV) and UV (4.3 eV) wavelengths arise, highlighting the formation of the ODCs. The excitation of unfused SPCVD films by an ArF (6.4 eV) excimer laser yields a luminescence spectrum with two bands typical for the ODCs, but with a faster decay kinetics. Intensities of these bands grow up with samples cooling down to a temperature of 80–60 K. Unfused films excited by the ArF laser also demonstrate luminescence due to recombination of a trapped charge resulted from the excitation of localized electron states of the glass network. In the unfused GeO₂ film luminescence related to a self-trapped exciton (STE) typical for GeO₂ crystals with α-quartz structure is observed. The observed STE luminescence can be indicative of the crystalline fraction availability in the film. Whereas GeO₂ crystals are known as not containing twofold coordinated germanium, a polycrystalline inclusion in the SPCVD GeO₂ film serves as a factor explaining the absence of any spectroscopic manifestation of this type of defects in it even after fusion. On the other hand, lack of STE luminescence in other unfused films with x < 1 testifies truly amorphous state of the matter in them.     

Temperature dependence of the photoinduced fatigue-recovery phenomena of photoluminescence under prolonged irradiation in GeS2 chalcogenide glass

We report the time-dependent intensities for the photoluminescence (PL) at various temperatures (10 K ? T ? 300 K) in amorphous GeS₂, which is known to exhibit not only PL fatigue but also PL recovery behavior. A difference in reversibility in fatigue-recovery process was found between room temperature (RT) and those at 110 K or below. Another small band of PL was also observed at 10 K or less, which also showed a time-dependence in intensity. A functional form to describe the time dependence was adopted based on a simplified model which have been obtained in a previous study and extended to describe the fatigue-recovery behaviors for all temperature range which have measured below RT.