Oxidation effects on the photoluminescent properties of Si nanocrystalline thin films

Abstract We report a photoluminescence (PL) study of silicon nanocrystallites deposited by pulsed laser deposition using a Nd:YAG laser. The influence of cluster oxidation on the luminescence properties was observed. The mean crystal size is in the range 1–3 nm. The PL intensity of nanocrystallites increased after annealing and strong violet–indigo PL has been observed from nitrogen ambient-annealed sample. As the results of PL and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) measurements, we could suggest that the origin of violet–indigo PL from the films was related to the quantum size effect of Si nanocrystallites.