Time-resolved analysis of the white photoluminescence from chemically synthesized SiC{sub x}O{sub y} thin films and nanowires

Journal Article · Mon Jul 25 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4959834· OSTI ID:22594448

Tabassum, Natasha; Nikas, Vasileios; Ford, Brian; Huang, Mengbing; Kaloyeros, Alain E.; Gallis, Spyros ^[1]

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1. Colleges of Nanoscale Sciences and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York 12203 (United States)

The study reported herein presents results on the room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) dynamics of chemically synthesized SiC{sub x}O{sub y≤1.6} (0.19 < x < 0.6) thin films and corresponding nanowire (NW) arrays. The PL decay transients of the SiC{sub x}O{sub y} films/NWs are characterized by fast luminescence decay lifetimes that span in the range of 350–950 ps, as determined from their deconvoluted PL decay spectra and their stretched-exponential recombination behavior. Complementary steady-state PL emission peak position studies for SiC{sub x}O{sub y} thin films with varying C content showed similar characteristics pertaining to the variation of their emission peak position with respect to the excitation photon energy. A nearly monotonic increase in the PL energy emission peak, before reaching an energy plateau, was observed with increasing excitation energy. This behavior suggests that band-tail states, related to C-Si/Si-O-C bonding, play a prominent role in the recombination of photo-generated carriers in SiC{sub x}O{sub y}. Furthermore, the PL lifetime behavior of the SiC{sub x}O{sub y} thin films and their NWs was analyzed with respect to their luminescence emission energy. An emission-energy-dependent lifetime was observed, as a result of the modulation of their band-tail states statistics with varying C content and with the reduced dimensionality of the NWs.

• OSTI ID: 22594448
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 109; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
BONDING
CARRIERS
DECAY
ENERGY DEPENDENCE
EXCITATION
LIFETIME
MODULATION
NANOWIRES
PEAKS
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PHOTONS
RECOMBINATION
SILICON CARBIDES
SPECTRA
STATISTICS
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
THIN FILMS
TIME RESOLUTION