Optical properties of multilayer silicon nitride structures with silicon quantum dots

Abstract

In our study we report the investigation of nanostructures embedded in silicon nitride films deposited by RF plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The multilayer structure consisting of fifty near‐stoichiometric silicon nitride layers followed by silicon–rich silicon nitride layers has been deposited and heated in 1100 °C in order to realize the quantum dot superlattice. The properties of the quantum dots are investigated using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and spectroscopic ellipsometry. It has been observed that after annealing the photoluminescence that was previously observed in the sample is strongly suppressed. At the same time a new absorption peak in the dispersion of the extinction coefficient occurred almost at the same value of the wavelength. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)