Comparison between light emission from Si/SiN and Si/SiO2 multilayers: role of interface states

Abstract We report a systematic study on the properties of light emission from two series of Si/SiN X and Si/SiO 2 multilayer structures prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method. The size dependence of light emission is well exhibited when the Si sublayer thickness is thinner than 4 nm and the interface states are well passivated by hydrogen. But for the oxygen terminated Si/SiO 2 multilayer structures, the oxygen modified interface states play predominant role in the properties of light emission. The evolution of the light emission properties affected by interface states was step-by-step discovered. The role of hydrogen and oxygen is discussed.