Abstract

The photoluminescence (PL) in crystalline silicon (c-Si) has been investigated during the last decades. Recent interest has focused on the visible PL that is observed in Si nanoclusters and in porous Si (PSi), the infrared PL in silicon-germanium superlattices, and the subgap PL due to impurities in c-Si [1]. Band edge PL in bulk Si is inefficient and usually observed only at low temperatures because c-Si has an indirect bandgap. The electroluminescence (EL) is as inefficient as the photoluminescence (PL) and, in addition, the EL is quenched by an electric field E ≥ 10⁴ V/cm due to field-induced dissociation of the exciton. In this work we report a significant increase of the Si band edge photoluminescence and electroluminescence and its unexpectedly weak temperature dependence in large Si nanocrystals produced by the recrystallization of oxidized porous Si.

© 1997 Optical Society of America