Annealing effect on the photoluminescence of Si nanocrystallites thin films

Si nanocrystallites thin films on p-type (100) Si substrate have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using a Nd:YAG laser. deposition, samples were annealed in several environmental gases at the temperature range from 400 to 800 °C. Strong violet-indigo photoluminescence has been observed at room temperature (RT) from nitrogen ambient-annealed Si nanocrystallites. The variation of photoluminescence (PL) properties of Si nanocrystallites thin films has been investigated depending on annealing temperatures. As the results of PL and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) measurements, we could suggest that the origin of violet-indigo PL from the films was related to the quantum size effect of Si nanocrystallites.