Synthesis and Optical Properties of Si-Rich Nitride Containing Silicon Quantum Dots

Hydrogenated silicon-rich nitride films were deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using NH3 and SiH4. As-deposited samples were thermally annealed under different conditions in argon ambient. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was carried out to investigate the bonding configurations, and Raman scattering spectroscopy was used to study the microstructures and confirm the presence of Si quantum dots (QDs). We found that a near-stoichiometric silicon nitride matrix was formed after high-temperature processing. When the annealing temperature reached 1100°C, the degree of crystallinity (Xc) increased to 51.6% for the 60-min sample compared with 46.1% for the 30-min sample. Red-light and yellow-light emission were obtained from the samples annealed at 1100°C for 30 min and 60 min, respectively. The emission mechanism is dominated by excitons confined within the Si QDs. The ultra-nanocrystals play an important role in the luminescence blue-shift. We measured the bandgap values from optical absorption studies. The increase of the optical bandgap from 1.80 eV to 1.90 eV with increase of the annealing temperature from 950°C to 1100°C is ascribed to the silicon clusters and nitride matrix.