Mechanism of photoluminescence of Si nanocrystals fabricated in a SiO2 matrix

The luminescence properties of silicon nanocrystals fabricated by Si ion implantation into a SiO2 matrix and subsequent thermal annealing have been studied. To identify the mechanism of photoluminescence of Si nanocrystals, the dependencies of the steady-state photoluminescence on temperature and excitation power density, and the time-resolved photoluminescence have been investigated. The experimental results point to the mechanism of recombination via the levels of centers which are presumably localized at the silicon nanocrystal–silicon dioxide boundary.