Analysis of the white emission from ion beam synthesised layers by in-depth resolved scanning photoluminescence microscopy

In this work, the in-depth resolved photoluminescence (PL) analysis of the white emission from SiO2 films implanted with high doses of Si+ and C+ ions is performed by scanning PL microscopy measurements on low angle bevelled samples. This white emission results from the convolution of three bands in the IR-red, yellow–green and blue spectral regions. The spectra obtained at different depths show a clear correlation of the intensity of the IR-red band with the presence of Si nanocrystals in the implanted layer, as well as the yellow–green one with the C implanted profile. These results provide direct experimental evidence which relates these two PL bands to the formation of Si nanocrystals and C rich aggregates. The correlation of these data with the microstructural analysis of the samples supports the assignment of these bands with the ion beam synthesised Si nanocrystals, C graphitic and SiC amorphous phases, respectively.