Luminescent-wavelength tailoring silicon-rich silicon nitride LED

Wavelength tunable photoluminescence （PL） of Si-rich silicon nitride （SRSN） film with buried Si nanocrystals （Si-ncs） grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition （PECVD） under Sill4 and NH3 environment is investigated. Intense broadband visible emissions tunable from blue to red can be obtained from the as-deposited SiNs thin films with increasing NH3 flow rate from 150 to 250 sccm and detuning the SiH4/NH3 flow ratio during deposition. To date, the normalized PL wavelength of SiNx films after anneal- ing could be detuned over the range of 385-675 nm by decreasing the NH3 flow rate, corresponding to an enlargement on Si-nc size from 1.5-2 to 4-5 nm. The PL linewidth is decreased with increasing ammonia flow rate due to the improved uniformity of Si-ncs under high NH3 flow rate condition. In addition, the PL intensity is monotonically increasing with the blue shift of PL wavelength due to the increasing density of small-size Si-ncs. The ITO/SiNx/p-Si/Al diode reveals highly resistive property with the turn-on voltage and power-voltage slope of only 20 V and 0.18 nW/V, respectively. The turn-on voltage can further reduce from 20 to 3.8 V by improving the carrier injection efficiency with p-type Si nano-rods.     

Aging effect on blue luminescent silicon nanocrystals prepared by pulsed laser ablation of silicon wafer in de-ionized water

Blue luminescent colloidal silicon nanocrystals (Si-ncs) were synthesized at room temperature by nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of a single-crystal silicon target in de-ionized water. Irregular Si-nc fragments obtained by laser ablation are stabilized into regularly shaped, spherical, and well-separated aggregates during the aging process in water. Aging in de-ionized water for several weeks improved the photoluminescence (PL) intensity. At least two weeks of aging are necessary for observation of broad blue room temperature PL with a maximum centered at 420 nm. Detailed structural analysis revealed that agglomerates after aging for several months contain Si-ncs with irregular shape smaller than the quantum confinement limit (<5 nm). These blue luminescent Si-ncs dispersed in de-ionized water exhibited a PL decay time of 6 ns, which is much faster than that of Si-ncs prepared in traditional ways (usually on the order of microseconds). The oxidized Si-ncs with quantum confinement effects are responsible for a PL band around 400 nm visible to the naked eye at room temperature.     

Free-carrier absorption modulation in silicon nanocrystal slot waveguides

Free-carrier absorption (FCA) has proven to be an important obstacle in the development of a silicon-based laser; however, FCA may serve as a potential advantage in active silicon-based switches or modulators. In this work, we present FCA modulation in slot waveguides with silicon nanocrystals (Si-ncs) embedded in SiO(2) as the low-index slot material. Slot waveguides were fabricated with and without Si-ncs, and the presence of Si-ncs was shown to increase the pump-induced FCA loss in the waveguides by a factor of 4.5. We modeled the Si-nc material using a four-level rate equation analysis to estimate the excited population of Si-ncs, allowing us to extract a value of 2.6 × 10(-17) cm(2) for the FCA cross section of the Si-nc material.     

Decay processes of photoluminescence in a nanocrystalline SiC thin film

Nanocrystalline (nc)-SiC film has been deposited by helicon wave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique and intense blue-white light emission is obtained. Microstructure analyses show that the 3C–SiC particles are embed in amorphous SiC matrix, and the average size of the nc-SiC is 3.96 nm. The photon energy of the main photoluminescence (PL) band is higher than the band gap of bulk SiC, which indicates that the optical emission mainly occurs in quantum states of 3C–SiC nanocrystals. In addition, the band tail states of amorphous SiC also contribute to the optical emission. Three decay processes are obtained from time-resolved PL spectra by deconvolution treatment, and the decay components correspond to the quantum confinement effect (QCE), surface states of nc-SiC particles, and band tail of amorphous SiC, respectively. The fractional integrated PL intensity of QCE related decay process decreases dramatically in the lower PL photon energy, indicating that the QCE mainly contributes to the short wavelength optical emission.     

Photoluminescence studies from silicon nanocrystals embedded in spin on glass thin films

Photoluminescence (PL) from silicon nanocrystals (Si-nc) prepared from pulverised porous silicon and embedded in undoped (SOG) or phosphorus-doped spin-on-glass (SOD) solutions was studied. Effects of rapid thermal annealing on the PL was also investigated. A strong room temperature PL signal was observed at 710 nm due to the recombination of electron-hole pairs in Si-nc and the PL maximum shifts to the blue region as the phosphorus concentration in the spin on glass increases. However, the rapid thermal annealing process (30 s, 900°C) quenches the PL response. These results suggest that for Si-nc/SOG (SOD) the surface termination is efficient but high phosphorus doping of Si-nc is detrimental to the PL.     

Influence of CH3COO on the room temperature photoluminescence of ZnO films prepared by CVD

ZnO films with strong c-axis-preferred orientation have been prepared by a single source chemical vapor deposition technique using zinc acetate as source material at the growth temperature of 230 °C. The strong UV and blue emissions were observed in the photoluminescence spectra of as-grown films. A small quantity of residual zinc acetate was reserved on the surface of as-grown ZnO films and the emission mechanism of blue luminescence was nearly related to the CH₃COO^- of unidentate type. The blue emission disappeared and the green emission appeared after annealing treatment. The green emission is related to the singly ionized oxygen vacancies.     

CdSe/CdS核/壳型纳米晶的光谱特性

以巯基乙酸为稳定剂制备了CdSe/CdS核／壳型纳米晶。用光吸收谱（Abs)、光致发光谱（PL）及光致发光激发谱（PLE）研究了CdS壳层对CdSe纳米晶电子结构，从而对其吸收和发光性能的影响。根据PL和PLE的结果以及带边激子精细结构的计算结果，我们用尺寸很小的纳米晶中所形成的基激缔合物解释了PL光谱与吸收边之间较大的Stokes位移。     

Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy Study on the Photophysical Behavior of Quantum Dots

Room-temperature time-resolved luminescence measurements on single CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) are presented. Fluorescence emission spectra were recorded over periods of up to 30 minutes with a time resolution as small as 6 ms. For QDs in ambient air, a clear 30–40 nm blue shift in the emission wavelength is observed, before the luminescence stops after about 2–3 minutes because of photobleaching. In a nitrogen atmosphere, the blue shift is absent while photobleaching occurs after much longer times (i.e., 10–15 minutes). These observations are explained by photoinduced oxidation. The CdSe surface is oxidized during illumination in the presence of oxygen. This effectively results in shrinkage of the CdSe core diameter by almost 1 nm and consequently in a blue shift. The faster fading of the luminescence in air suggests that photoinduced oxidation results in the formation of non-radiative recombination centers at the CdSe/CdSeO_x interface. In a nitrogen atmosphere, photoinduced oxidation is prevented by the absence of oxygen. Additionally, a higher initial light output for CdSe/ZnS QDs in air is observed. This can be explained by a fast reduction of the lifetime of the long-lived defect states of CdSe QDs by oxygen.     

Effects of Si nanocluster size and carrier-Er interaction distance on the efficiency of energy transfer

The effects of Si nanocluster (Si-nc) size and spacing from Er³⁺ ions were investigated through studies made on appropriate configurations of multilayers obtained by reactive magnetron sputtering at 650 °C and subsequently annealed at 900 °C. Si-nc larger than about 5 nm appear ineffective for resonant excitation of Er because of the resulting weak confinement responsible for negligible direct radiative recombination. This direct no-phonon transition probability is closely correlated to the energy transfer rate, both decreasing when Si-nc size increases. For large Si-nc having a bandgap lower than 1.26 eV, the energy transfer to the upper levels (second, third, etc.) of Er³⁺ is no more possible, leading to the observed abrupt decrease of the 1.54-μm emission. The latter is governed by the distance separating Er ions from their Si-nc sensitizers, whose behavior was well described by an exponentially decreasing exchange interaction. The characteristic interaction distance was found to be dependent on the amorphous or crystalline nature of Si-nc, and it appears as small as 0.4±0.1 nm for the former (amorphous) and of some nanometers for the crystallized Si-nc.     

激光分子束外延方法生长的ZnO薄膜的发光特性

研究了不同温度和不同光激发强度下激光分子束外延方法生长的ZnO薄膜样品的发光性能,发现YAG脉冲激光激发,强度超过一定值时会在长波方向上出现一个新的发光峰,此峰可能起源于电子-空穴的复合。室温下氙灯激发的光谱中可以看到峰值位于381nm的近带边紫外发射峰和位于450nm的强的蓝绿带发射,根据光致发光激发光谱的特征给出了一个简单的蓝光发射模型。对比YAG脉冲激光激发和氙灯激发得到的实验光谱,我们认为不同的光谱特征和样品发光的激发机制有关,紫外峰发射需激发强度超过一定值才能观察到,而蓝带发射则在一定的激发强度下迅速饱和。     

非晶碳化硅材料与光学微腔的制备与发光

利用等离子体化学气相沉积技术在100℃的衬底温度下,制备了具有不同组分比的系列非晶碳化硅薄膜。结合傅里叶变换红外光谱与喇曼光谱对所制备的薄膜微结构进行了表征与分析,同时,对具有不同组分比的非晶碳化硅薄膜室温光致发光性质进行了系统的研究。结果表明在Ar⁺离子激光和Xe灯紫外光的激发下,不同组分的样品显示出不同的光致发光特性,并对样品的发光特性与其微结构的联系进行了讨论。在此基础上,用碳化硅薄膜设计和制备了全固体光学微腔,研究了微腔对碳化硅发光行为的调制作用。     

Carrier localization effect on luminescence spectra of III-V heterostructures

A steady-state rate-equation model for temperature-dependent luminescence spectra from localized-state material system is presented. The effects of thermal emission, recapturing, radiative and nonradiative recombination are taken into account in the model. Two localized-state material systems, including InAs/GaAs quantum-dot and InGaN/GaN-multi-quantum-well samples were prepared. It is found that the temperature-dependent behaviors of luminescence emission energy obtained from the two samples are quite different. In the mid-temperature range, the emission peaks exhibit a redshift for quantum-dot sample, but a blueshift for multi-quantum-well sample. The peak energies of the luminescence spectra are simulated in this model and show a good agreement with experiment. The corresponding luminescence mechanisms of carriers in localized-state material systems, which lead to the diversity are quantitatively discussed in detail by the model.     

On the mechanism of luminescence of silicon nanostructures

A new model of porous-silicon (PS) luminescence based on hot-electron generation in silicon nanoparticles is proposed. This mechanism was used earlier for interpretation of light emission in island metal films (IMF). This paper offers a theoretical analysis of possible mechanisms capable of producing light emission in hot-electron collisions with a surface. Experimental data are presented in support of the applicability of this model to PS and silicon nanoparticles (the existence of electron emission in semiconductor structures and the correlation between the electron emission current and the luminescence intensity).     

溶胶-凝胶制备ZnO-SiO2复合膜的量子效应和上转换发光

采用溶胶-凝胶技术在玻璃衬底上制备了ZnO薄膜和ZnO-SiO₂复合膜.原子力显微镜照片显示ZnO薄膜具有球状纳米晶粒;可见光-紫外透射光谱表明ZnO-SiO₂复合膜在可见光区的透过率大约是85%,透过率从330 nm开始下降,到290 nm附近降为零.由于量子效应,吸收边出现明显的蓝移.在室温下用不同波长的光激发ZnO-SiO₂复合膜,光致发光谱显示ZnO-SiO₂复合膜对应于激子发射的290 nm附近的紫外发光峰与透射谱所显示的吸收边位置一致,没有出现斯托克斯红移.同时,ZnO-SiO₂复合膜出现了双光子和三光子吸收现象和上转换发光现象. 关键词： 2')" href="#">ZnO-SiO₂ 量子效应 双光子和三光子吸收 上转换发光     

Synthesis and luminescence of CdS quantum dots capped with a silica precursor

A novel synthesis method for efficiently luminescing CdS nanocrystals is reported using (3-mercaptopropyl)-trimethoxysilane (MPS) as a capping agent in THF or MeOH. The synthesis yields particles capped with a precursor for coating the particle with a silica shell and offers control over a wide range of particle sizes (2-) by varying the MPS concentration. The temperature dependence of the luminescence and the luminescence life time was studied and explained in terms of a donor-acceptor recombination process in which both electron and hole are trapped at low temperature. In addition to varying the emission color by controlling the particle size, nanocrystals were doped with Zn or Cu resulting in a blue shift or a red shift of the emission.     

多孔硅蓝光发射与发光机制

在制备出光致发光能量为２．７ｅＶ的发射蓝光多孔硅的基础上对它进行了较系统的研究：测量了它的光致发光时间分辨光谱，用傅里叶交换红外光谱分析了其表面吸附原子的局域振动模，研究了γ射线辐照对其发光的影响，并与发红、黄光的多孔硅作了对比，通过空气中长期存放、激光和紫外线照射的方法，研究了光致发光峰能量为２．７ｅＶ的多孔硅发光稳定性．我们及其它文献中报道的多孔硅蓝光发射的实验结果与量子限制模型矛盾，但能用量子限制／发光中心模型解释．我们认为多孔硅的２．７ｅＶ发光是多孔硅中包裹纳米硅的ＳｉＯ_x层中某种特征发光中心引起的． 关键词：     

Correlations of a bound interface over a random substrate

The effects of Si nanocluster (Si-nc) size on the energy transfer rate to Er ions were investigated through studies made on appropriate configurations of mutilayers (MLs) consisting in about 20 periods of Er-doped Si-rich SiO₂/SiO₂. These MLs were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering at 650 °C and subsequently annealed at 900 °C. For Si-rich layer thickness or Si-nc larger than about 4 nm, the sensitizing effect of Si-nc towards rare earth ions is highly lowered because of the weak confinement of carriers and the loss of resonant excitation of Er through the upper levels (second, third, ...). The latter is liable to prevent the energy back transfer process, while the weak confinement reduces strongly the probability of no phonon radiative recombination necessary for the energy transfer from Si-nc to Er ions.     

MOCVD生长的GaN单晶膜的蓝带发光研究

对实验室用ＭＯＣＶＤ方法生长的未掺杂ＧａＮ单晶膜的发光性能进行了研究。结果表明：在室温时未掺杂ＧａＮ单晶出现的能量为２．９ｅＶ左右蓝带发光与被偿度有较强的依赖关系。高补偿ＧａＮ的蓝带发射强,低补偿ＧａＮ的蓝带发射弱。对蓝带发光机理进行了探讨,认为蓝 导带电子过至受主能级的发光（ｅＡ发光）。观察到降低ＧａＮ补偿度能提高ＧａＮ带边发射强度。     

Electroluminescence and its excitation mechanism of SiOx films deposited by electron-beam evaporation

Blue electroluminescence from SiO_x films deposited by electron beam evaporation was observed. This blue emission blueshifted from 450 to 410 nm with increasing applied voltage. The dependences of blue emission on applied voltage, frequency and conduction current were studied. Our experimental data support that blue emission from SiO_x films is the result of both recombination of charge carriers injected from opposite electrodes and impact excitation of hot electrons, the recombination of carriers injected is dominant in low and medium electric fields but hot electron impact excitation is dominant under high electric fields.     

Rare earth based clusters for nanoscale light source

We investigate the fundamental properties of films resulting from the deposition of Eu³⁺ doped Gd₂O₃ clusters. We first report that the crystalline structure of clusters with diameter as low as 2.8 nm is still BCC (as in the bulk phase at ambient temperature and pressure). No phase transition to monoclinic structure is observed. We show that contamination from air (formation of hydroxide) is important and leads to the modification of the luminescence of the Eu³⁺ ions. Furthermore, films protected from this contamination have been fabricated and show a new feature (broad peak at 625 nm). It means that contamination is not the only mechanism responsible for the modification of the light emission spectrum. The crystal field symmetry breaking induced by the surface also plays a major role. Eventually, we show that the widening of the optical gap continues for these very small clusters. We discuss this effect in the frame of the quantum confinement model.