Electroluminescence mechanisms in SiO x N y (Si) nanocomposite films

Nature and spatial localization of electroluminescence sources in the metal-composite layer-semiconductor structures

“…As in the previous works, the elec troluminescence spectra of the Au-SiO x N y (Si)-cSi structures contain two broad branches: the long wave length IR branch (λ ≈ 1000-1600 nm) and the short wavelength branch (λ ≈ 500-1000 nm). The nature of these branches was discussed in general terms in [8][9][10][11]. The long wavelength branch with the maximum intensity near the bandgap energy of crystal silicon is similar to the electroluminescence spectra of reverse biased p n junctions [12][13][14].…”

“…In this paper, we study different EL metal-com posite layer-semiconductor (MCS) structures, in par ticular, Au-SiO x N y (Si)-cSi, in which the SiO x N y (Si) composite layer was deposited onto a single crystal cSi substrate by reactive ion sputtering of the silicon target in the oxygen and nitrogen atmosphere with subse quent annealing or specific heating of the substrate [8][9][10]. A distinctive feature of the manufacturing procedure was the fact that a part of the Ar ion beam used for sputtering of the target was directed toward the cSi substrate, which led to partial amorphization of its surface layer, embedding of oxygen and nitrogen atoms in this layer, and formation of a nanostructured transition region, which strongly affected electrolumi nescence in the MCS structures under investigation [10].…”