Si nanocrystals embedded in $SiO_2$: Optical studies in the vacuum ultraviolet range

Photoluminescence excitation and transmission spectra of Si nanocrystals of different diameters embeddedin a SiO2 matrix have been investigated in the broad visible-vacuum ultraviolet spectral range usingsynchrotron radiation. The dependence of the photoluminescence excitation spectra on the nanocrystals sizewas experimentally established. It is shown that the photoluminescence excitation and absorption spectra aresignificantly blueshifted with decreasing Si nanocrystal size. A detailed comparison of photoluminescenceexcitation and absorption spectra with data from theoretical modeling has been done. It is demonstrated thatthe experimentally determined blueshift of the photoluminescence exc…