Photoluminescence from Si-implanted [formula omitted] films

Abstract

Si 3 N 4 films grown on Si substrate were implanted at room temperature with 80 keV Si ions at a dose of 1 × 10 17 cm - 2 , and were then subjected to thermal annealing at different temperatures up to 1200 ∘ C in N 2 ambient. The light emitting characteristics of the samples were recorded as a function of annealing temperature by using photoluminescence (PL). Our results clearly show that Si ion implantation could induce strong blue and violet light emission from the Si 3 N 4 layers. The PL intensity has been found to decrease significantly upon annealing. Meanwhile, at high temperature annealing, new luminescence bands centered at wavelengths of about 690 and 930 nm were observed. The formation of silicon nano-clusters is believed to be responsible for those new luminescence bands. The results are qualitatively discussed in combination with the electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements.