Strong and stable blue photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature has been observed from amorphous oxidized silicon nitride (a-SiNx:O) films with Ag nanoparticles inserted between a-SiNx:O films and Si substrates. The resonant excitation of localized surface plasmons (LSPs) with the emission of a-SiNx:O films has resulted in an increase in the internal quantum efficiency, from 3.9% to 8.4%. We have found that the PL efficiency ratio induced by resonant coupling is close to the enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate of a-SiNx:O, which demonstrates that a-SiNx:O films with LSP-enhanced blue emission is promising for silicon-based light-emitting applications.
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