Enhancement of the intensity of the short-wavelength visible photoluminescence from silicon-implanted silicon-dioxide films caused by hydrostatic pressure during annealing

We have studied the influence of the hydrostatic pressure during annealing on the intensity of the visible photoluminescence (PL) from thermally grown SiO2 films irradiated with Si+ ions using double-energy implants at 100 and 200 keV and ion doses ranging from 1.2 x 10(16) to 6.3 x 10(16) cm(-2). Postimplantation anneals have been carried out in an Ar ambient at temperatures T-a of 400 and 450 degrees C for 10 h at both atmospheric pressure and hydrostatic pressures of 0.1, 10, 12, and 15 kbar. It has been found that the intensity of the ultraviolet (similar to 360 nm), blue (similar to 460 nm), and red (similar to 600 nm) PL emission bands increases with raising hydrostatic pressure whereby the PL peaks retain their wavelength positions. The results obtained have been interpreted in terms of enhanced, pressure-mediated formation of =Si-Si= centers and small Si clusters within metastable regions of the ion-implanted SiO2. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)01636-2].