S. Cheylan et Rg. Elliman, Effect of hydrogen on the photoluminescence of Si nanocrystals embedded ina SiO2 matrix, APPL PHYS L, 78(9), 2001, pp. 1225-1227
Hydrogen passivation of Si nanocrystals is shown to result in a redshift of
photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra, as well as the more commonly obse
rved intensity increase. The shift is reversible, with spectra returning to
their unpassivated values as hydrogen is removed from the samples by annea
ling. The magnitude of the redshift also depends on the implant fluence emp
loyed for nanocrystal synthesis, increasing with increasing fluence or part
icle size. These data are shown to be consistent with a model in which larg
er crystallites are assumed to contain a greater number of nonradiative def
ects, i.e., the number of nonradiative defects is assumed to scale with the
surface area or volume of a nanocrystal. Hydrogen passivation then results
in a disproportionate increase in emission from larger crystallites, givin
g rise to an apparent redshift in the composite PL emission spectrum. (C) 2
001 American Institute of Physics.