UV-blue photoluminescence from close-packed SiC nanocrystal film

We observed stable photoluminescence from close-packed cubic SiC nanocrystals that are self-assembled into thin solid film. The peak wavelength shifts from blue to near UV with increasing excitation energy and follows well the quantum-confinement effect. The photoluminescence excitation spectrum indicates a 3.47 eV bandgap corresponding to a particle size of 2.3 nm. The nanocrystal film shows triple-exponential photoluminescence decay with lifetimes of 2.3, 8.5, and 36.9 ns. The results open the possibility of the solid state UV-blue light emitting by use of the SiC nanocrystals in photonics and photonics/electronics integration.