Tuned photoluminescence from Si+-implanted SiO2 films with rapid and conventional thermal annealing

Abstract

In this study, by using a conventional thermal annealing (CTA), the obviously near-infrared shift and intensity amplification of room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectrum could be observed from the 3 × 1016 cm−2 Si+-implanted 400-nm-thick SiO2 films after rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 1150 °C in dry nitrogen. For isothermal RTA durations ≥20 s at the heating rate of 100 °C/s, the PL peaks from the only RTA-treated films were detected around 1.7 eV and, for 1050 °C CTA durations between 1 and 3 h, no significant PL could be found from the only CTA-treated films. However, when annealing the RTA-treated films with the CTA for only 1 h, then, we varied the terminal PL-peak from 1.7 to 1.5 eV and obviously increased their respective intensities from the films. These results are attributed to the variation of silicon nano-crystals embedded in SiO2 film.