Novel photoluminescent In2O3/a-SiC core/shell nanostructure synthesized by HW-assisted PECVD method

Abstract

Semiconductor core/shell nanostructures have been recently attracted a great interest due to interesting properties and wide potential applications. In this work, In2O3/a-SiC core/shell nanostructure was successfully synthesized for the first time using hot wire-assisted plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. The crystalline structure, morphology, chemical composition, and optical properties of the deposited film were investigated by variety of characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometry, photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and Raman scattering spectroscopy. The results verified the formation of core/shell nanostructures, crystalline In2O3 as a core and amorphous SiC as a shell, successfully. The average diameter and thickness of synthesized core and shell were 101 and 38 nm, respectively. A strong and broad room-temperature PL emission in the visible and near-infrared region was observed for the synthesized structure as a result of synergic effects. This broad band was consisted of Gaussian peaks at the wavelengths of 570, 656, 728, 763, and 842 nm. The origin of different PL peaks was discussed in the paper. The results show that the novel In2O3/a-SiC core/shell nanostructure is a good candidate for optical applications.