Silicon particles approaching the size of 1 nm were grown along with the confining SiCfilms by employing a low-temperature chemical vapor deposition procedure. Theresulting amorphous composite structure enables an experimental study of thequantum confinement effect in extremely narrow potential wells, as exemplified hereby photoluminescence measurement. Owing to the enhanced energy fluctuationfor such small particles, strong photoluminescence centered at 450–540 nm, andof comparable profiles, was measured in one single sample with an excitationwavelength selectable within 360–420 nm. Moreover, the typical decay time wasfound to be below 3.0 ns. These properties hold promise for the fabrication ofwide-spectrum photoreceptors, ultraviolet-light detectors, and other optoelectronicdevices.