Control of the Crystallite Size and Dielectric Tissue in nc-Si/SiO2 Plasma CVD Films: Origin of the Green/Blue and the Efficiency of the Red Photoluminescence

Abstract

ABSTRACTPlasma CVD allows one a good control of the crystallite size and dielectric tissue in the nc-Si/SiO2 compact films. It is shown that the green/blue PL originates from SiO2 (s) ≡Si-OH groups whereas the red PL is associated with states at the nc-Si/SiO2 interface. With ≥ 1 nm thick SiO2 tissue the efficiency of the red PL increases by more than three orders of magnitude when the crystallite size decreases from about 8 to 2 nm in agreement with the theoretical predictions. If, at a constant crystallite size, the thickness of the SiO2 tissue is decreased to 0.2-0.3 nm, the PL intensity decreases by two orders of magnitude. Possible reasons of this effect are discussed together with the question of optimizing the electroluminescence. Microwave absorption is used to distinguish between free and localized (emitting PL) photogenerated carriers.