Photoluminescence from Si nanocrystals dispersed in phosphosilicate glass thin films

Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Si nanocrystals (nc-Si) in phosphosilicat e glass matrices, and the PL decay dynamics were studied. The 1.4 eV peak c orresponding to the recombination of electron-hole pairs confined in nc-Si (band-edge FL) became intense with increasing the P concentration in the ma trix region, while the 0.9 eV peak related to the defects at the interfaces between nc-Si and matrices became weaker. The lifetime of the band-edge PL increased with the P concentration. These results indicate that the improv ement of the band-edge PL efficiency is achieved by decreasing the interfac e defect density by P doping. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.