Visible light emission at room temperature from partially oxidized amorphous silicon

Abstract

In situ boron-doped amorphous hydrogenated silicon films deposited on conductive substrates have been anodized in hydrofluoric acid solutions and subsequently electrochemically oxidized in an aqueous electrolyte. The resulting layers yield a visible luminescence at room temperature similar to that of p-type crystalline porous silicon. Moreover , as-deposited silicon-rich amorphous oxinitrides are also shown to yield a strong visible room-temperature photoluminescence. The incidence of these experimental results on the current debate about the microscopic origin of visible light emission from silicon at room-temperature is discussed.