Localized surface plasmon resonance enhanced photoluminescence from SiNx with different N/Si ratios

Abstract

Silver (Ag) nanostructures with different sizes and densities were deposited onto the luminescence matrixes to improve the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of silicon nitride (SiN x) films via localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) coupling. The shape of PL spectra from the SiN x matrixes is mainly determined by their stoichiometric ratio. Moreover, both the surface coverage and the size of Ag nanostructures should be considered for the improvement of PL intensity. The optimal PL intensity of SiN x films might be achieved by the addition of Ag nanostructures with proper surface coverage and size due to the enhanced photo-excitation by LSPR. The dipolar resonance absorption of Ag nanostructures has an insignificant contribution on this improvement.

Enhancement of orange-yellow electroluminescence extraction from SiNx light-emitting devices by silver nanostructures

“…The original thickness of Ag layer was ~20 nm (read from a film thickness monitor) with the average deposition rate of ~0.2 Å/s. Denser and smaller sized Ag nanostructures were obtained prior to the following thermal treatment [25]. These smaller sized Ag nanostructures would be coalesced together during the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process under argon ambient at 500 °C for 60 s due to the Ostwald ripening process [26], and after that the elongated Ag nanostructures could be formed, as shown in Fig.…”

Size-dependent coupling between localized surface plasmons and excitons in silicon nitride matrix

“…First, the excitons within the luminescence matrix transfer their energies to the LSP modes. After that, the energy from the confined LSP modes outcouples to actual propagation modes, improving the luminescence performance of the active matrix [12,17,18]. This LSP-exciton coupling is analogous to the resonator plasmonic coupling in metamaterials, which can also suppress the radiative losses and enhance the quality factors [19][20][21].…”

“…First, the excitons within the luminescence matrix transfer their energies to the LSP modes. Then, the energy from the LSP mode outcouples to radiated photons, and the emission from the luminescence matrix is enhanced [16,18,28]. Consequently, there should be a strong correlation between the luminescence enhancement and the LSP resonance coupling.…”

“…Figure 3 shows the plot of the dipolar resonance energy (hv dipole ) versus the photon energy of the maximal PL enhancement factors (hv PL ), where the previously published data were employed for the detailed investigation. The data labeled as the red triangles can be obtained from [12], and the data labeled as the green diamonds and the blue stars can be obtained from [17] and [18], respectively. From the linear fitting of hv dipole versus hv PL , we can obtain the relation of hv dipole hv PL 0.02 (eV).…”

“…The data labeled as the green diamonds are obtained from [17]. The data labeled as the blue stars are obtained from [18].…”