Ultraviolet–visible light photoluminescence induced by stacking faults in 3C–SiC nanowires

Abstract

The relationship between stacking faults and optical properties in 3C–SiC nanowires is reported in this paper. 3C–SiC nanowires prepared at 900 °C have high density stacking faults. The stacking faults cause a change in the Si–C atom stacking sequence and form nanosegments of 4H–SiC and 6H–SiC in the 3C–SiC matrix. The mixture of polytypes leads to a shift in the peaks and the addition of peaks in both Raman spectra and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The Raman peaks are centered at 785 cm−1 and at 935 cm−1 and correspond to the transverse optic mode and the longitudinal optic mode of 3C–SiC, respectively. The PL peaks are blueshifted and the emissions are in the ultraviolet–visible light band.