Highly efficient and stable photoluminescence from silicon nanowires coated with SiC

A reaction of silicon nanowires (SiNW) with methane and hydrogen has been p erformed to produce a thin coating layer of cubic silicon carbide (beta -SI C) using an ion beam deposition technique. High resolution transmission ele ctron microscopy (HRTEM) showed that silicon oxide shells originally claddi ng the as-grown SiNW were removed and replaced by a thin layer of nano-size d crystals of beta -SiC. This has led to stable photoluminescence (PL) obse rved from the SiC-coated SiNW with high efficiency almost tripled as compar ed with that before SiC coating. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.