Exciton luminescence from silicon nanocrystals embedded in silicon nitride film

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) method was used for silicon nanostructure synthesis in silicon nitride film. After deposition, films were annealed in vacuum at temperatures ranging from 600 to 900 °C for 10 min using rapid thermal annealing system. Exciton luminescence from quantum silicon structures was observed in annealed films by low temperature photoluminescence at a temperature of 11 K. Indirect momentum-conserving phonon-assisted exciton luminescence peaks observed give the evidence that silicon nitride matrices have silicon nanostructures in crystalline form.