Optical transition in nanocrystalline Si doped SiO2 thin films formed by cosputtering

Abstract

Optical transition properties of nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) doped SiO2 thin films prepared by cosputtering with SiO2 target and Si-chips followed by high temperature annealing were investigated as a function of ratio of target area (Si/SiO2) in the range of 0 to 0.19. Optical transmission measurements revealed that the indirect band-gap of nc-Si decreased from 4.87 to 2.32 eV with increasing Si/SiO2 from 0.04 to 0.19, whereas no noticeable absorption was observed for the samples with Si/SiO2 = 0.00. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements showed that considerably weak emissions due to oxygen deficient center (ODC) in SiO2 films were observed at 514–539 nm for samples with lower Si/SiO2 of 0.0–0.09, while the strong emissions due to an interfacial layer between the nc-Si core and the SiO2 surface layer were observed at 746–808 nm for samples with higher Si/SiO2 of 0.13–0.19. PL excitation spectrum monitored at 800 nm showed that the PL at 800 nm was excited through nc-Si. On the other hand, cathodoluminesncence peaks were observed at 455 and 465 nm for the samples with 0.04 and 0.13, respectively, in which both peaks were assigned to originate from oxygen vacancies created during electron beam irradiation. The mechanisms of three types of luminescence, due to the ODC in SiO2, band-to-band transition of nc-Si, and the interfacial layer between the nc-Si core and the SiO2 surface layer, are discussed.