Abstract
To examine the matrix effect on the light emission of Si nanocrystal (Si-NC), we investigated the photoluminescence (PL) of Si-NC from multilayered samples of Si/SiO2 and SiO/SiO2 and single-layered pure Si thin films, which had all been annealed in nitrogen at 1,100 °C for 1 h so as to form Si-NCs. The size range of Si-NC is 1–10 nm. It was found that the density of Si-NC in the pure Si> that in Si/SiO2> that in SiO/SiO2, but the PL intensity of Si-NC from pure Si< that from Si/SiO2< that from SiO/SiO2. On the other hand, the PL intensity of Si-NC from Si/SiO2 sample is higher than that from Si/Si3N4 one. All these results are related to the difference in matrix surrounding Si-NCs, which causes differences in carrier confinement or/and interface state. The results suggest that for light emission of Si-NC, the matrix effect is determinative, and can be more important than the density of Si-NC itself.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program), Grant No. 2012CB934303, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 10974034 and No. 60878044.
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Zhu, J., Hao, HC., Li, D. et al. Matrix effect on the photoluminescence of Si nanocrystal. J Nanopart Res 14, 1097 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-1097-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-1097-9