Broad band light emission from Ag-ion implanted silicon nanocrystals

Silicon nanoparticles formed using low energy (<50 keV) silver ion implantation in crystalline Si exhibit broad band light emission from ultraviolet (UV) to green. The formation of nanoparticles is confirmed using high resolution electron microscopy (HRTEM) and the resulting microscopy is used to obtain the size distribution of Si nanoparticles. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra were observed in the range of the UV to the green. The origin of emission is most likely from highly localized defects at the Si/SiO2 which is further confirmed from Photoluminescence Excitation (PLE) and effective mass theory estimation.