Abstract
In an attempt to determine the carrier of the Extended Red Emission (ERE), we have investigated a series of amorphous and crystalline materials: natural coal, amorphous hydrogenated carbon, amorphous hydro- genated silicon carbide, porous silicon, and crystalline silicon nanoparticles. The photoluminescence (PL) behavior of various samples of these materials upon excitation with UV light was studied at room temperature focusing on both the wavelength dependence of the photoluminescence and the PL yield. For some samples the yield is by far too low, other samples do not comply with the characteristic wavelength range of ERE. Only the samples of nanocrystalline silicon (porous silicon and silicon nanoparticles) reveal PL properties that are compatible with the astronomical observations. Besides this experimental evidence, we will supply additional arguments leading to the conclusion that silicon nanoparticles should be seriously considered as an attractive carrier for the Extended Red Emission.
Highlights
The Extended Red Emission (ERE) was first detected by Cohen et al in 1975 in the Red Rectangle, but it was really identified as a general spectroscopic feature in 1980 by Schmidt et al in the same object
In an attempt to determine the carrier of the Extended Red Emission (ERE), we have investigated a series of amorphous and crystalline materials: natural coal, amorphous hydrogenated carbon, amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide, porous silicon, and crystalline silicon nanoparticles
It has been detected in many kinds of objects such as reflection nebulae (Witt et al 1984), planetary nebulae (Furton & Witt 1990), HII regions (Perrin & Sivan 1992), halos of galaxies (Perrin et al 1995), and more recently even in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium (DISM) (Gordon et al 1998)
Summary
The Extended Red Emission (ERE) was first detected by Cohen et al in 1975 in the Red Rectangle, but it was really identified as a general spectroscopic feature in 1980 by Schmidt et al in the same object It has been detected in many kinds of objects such as reflection nebulae (Witt et al 1984), planetary nebulae (Furton & Witt 1990), HII regions (Perrin & Sivan 1992), halos of galaxies (Perrin et al 1995), and more recently even in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium (DISM) (Gordon et al 1998). The real nature of the carrier is still under debate
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