A study on photoluminescence from Si-rich silicon oxide films and Ge-containing silicon oxide films

摘要

Si-rich silicon oxide films and Ge-containing silicon oxide films were deposited using the RF magnetron sputtering technique with a Si-SiO-2 and a Ge-SiO-2 composite target, respectively. The percentage area ratio of Si to SiO_2 was 30/100 and that of Ge to SiO= was 10/100. These films were annealed in a N2 ambient at 300℃, 600℃, 900℃, 1000℃ -1100℃ for 30 min. All the PL spectra from the two types of films annealed at various temperatures have similar shapes with peak positions around 580nm (～2.1 eV). Annealing at 900℃ or 1100℃, crystalline nanometer silicon particles (NSPs) in the Si-rich silicon oxide films and annealing at 900℃ crystalline nanometer Ge particles (NGPs) in Ge-containing silicon oxide films can be observed using a high--resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The PL peak positions for Si--rich silicon oxide films do not show any correlation with the sizes of crystalline NSPs, and PL intensity does not show any correlation with the density of crystalline NSPs. The PL peak positions of both types of films do not show any shift when measurement temperature increases from 10 to 300 K. The PL mechanisms for the Si-rich silicon oxide films and Ge-containing silicon oxide films have been discussed.