PHOTOLUMINESCENCE PROPERTIES OF ALTERNATING NANOCRYSTALLINE SILICON AMORPHOUS-SILICON MULTILAYERS

Photoluminescence (PL) properties of alternating hydrogenated nanocrys talline silicon/amorphous silicon multilayers were investigated at roo m temperature and low temperature (77 K). The room-temperature PL spec tra clearly show two peaks at about 1.54 and 1.7 eV. The similar to 1. 7 eV peak has no crystallite size dependence of the peak energy. The l ow-temperature PL spectra can be decomposed into three bands peaked at 1.53, 1.58 and 1.65 eV. The 1.53 eV band is related to the growth pro cess of our samples. The 1.58 eV band is believed to be related to a-S i : H tissue. For the 1.65 eV band, spectral analysis indicates that t he radiative recombination of photogenerated carriers in the near-surf ace region of nanocrystallites is responsible for the visible PL band. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.