The mutual exclusion of luminescence and transport in nanocrystalline silicon networks

Abstract We have studied the relation between the connectivity of the silicon network and the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency in co-sputtered Si–SiO 2 nanocrystalline composites. The results show that the creation of the large silicon clusters is responsible for the deconfinement of the exited carriers and thus for the time-decay of the PL and the Si content induced quenching of the PL. The prospects of efficient electroluminescence in this system are discussed in terms of the corresponding competition between this quenching and the enhanced transport as the electrical connectivity of the system is improved.