TY - JOUR
T1 - Photoluminescence properties of SiNx/Si amorphous multilayer structures grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition
AU - Monroy, B. M.
AU - Santana, G.
AU - Aguilar-Hernández, J.
AU - Benami, A.
AU - Fandiño, J.
AU - Ponce, A.
AU - Contreras-Puente, G.
AU - Ortiz, A.
AU - Alonso, J. C.
PY - 2006/12
Y1 - 2006/12
N2 - Very thin (nanometric) silicon layers were grown in between silicon nitride barriers by SiH2Cl2/H2/NH3 plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The multilayer structures were deposited onto fused silica and silicon substrates. Deposition conditions were selected to favor Si cluster formation of different sizes in between the barriers of silicon nitride. The samples were thermally treated in an inert atmosphere for 1 h at 500 °C for dehydrogenation. Room-temperature photoluminescence (RT-PL) and optical transmission in different ranges were used to evaluate the optical properties of the structures. UV-VIS absorption spectra present two band edges. These band edges are well fitted by the Tauc model typically used for amorphous materials. RT-PL spectra are characterized by strong broad bands, which have a blue shift as a function of the deposition time of the silicon layer, even for as-grown samples. The broad luminescence could be associated with the confinement effect in the silicon clusters. After annealing of the samples, the PL bands red shift. This is probably due to the thermal decomposition of N-H bonds with further effusion of hydrogen and better nitrogen passivation of the nc-Si/SiNx interfaces.
AB - Very thin (nanometric) silicon layers were grown in between silicon nitride barriers by SiH2Cl2/H2/NH3 plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The multilayer structures were deposited onto fused silica and silicon substrates. Deposition conditions were selected to favor Si cluster formation of different sizes in between the barriers of silicon nitride. The samples were thermally treated in an inert atmosphere for 1 h at 500 °C for dehydrogenation. Room-temperature photoluminescence (RT-PL) and optical transmission in different ranges were used to evaluate the optical properties of the structures. UV-VIS absorption spectra present two band edges. These band edges are well fitted by the Tauc model typically used for amorphous materials. RT-PL spectra are characterized by strong broad bands, which have a blue shift as a function of the deposition time of the silicon layer, even for as-grown samples. The broad luminescence could be associated with the confinement effect in the silicon clusters. After annealing of the samples, the PL bands red shift. This is probably due to the thermal decomposition of N-H bonds with further effusion of hydrogen and better nitrogen passivation of the nc-Si/SiNx interfaces.
KW - Multilayer
KW - PECVD
KW - Photoluminescence
KW - Silicon nanoclusters
KW - Silicon nitride
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33751014022&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jlumin.2006.08.046
DO - 10.1016/j.jlumin.2006.08.046
M3 - Artículo
SN - 0022-2313
VL - 121
SP - 349
EP - 352
JO - Journal of Luminescence
JF - Journal of Luminescence
IS - 2 SPEC. ISS.
ER -