Photoluminescence of Si nanocrystals embedded in SiO2: Excitation/emission mapping

Time-resolved photoluminescence from Si nanocrystals produced by 1100∘C thermal annealing of SiOx/SiO2 multilayers were investigated by tunable laser excitation, achieving a detailed excitation/emission pattern in the visible and UV range. The emission lineshape is a gaussian curve inhomogenously broadened because of the size distribution of Si nanocrystals, the excitation spectrum consists of the overlap of two gaussian bands centered around 3.4 and 5.1 eV. The mapping of luminescence spectral components with the lifetime points out the energy cubic dependence of the spontaneous emission rate. These findings are interpreted on the basis of models proposed in literature that associate this …