Ultraviolet (340–390 nm), room temperature, photoluminescence from InAs nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 matrix

InAs nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 matrix have been fabricated by a radio-frequency magnetron co-sputtering technique without postannealing. X-ray photoelectron spectra and Raman spectroscopy strongly suggest the existence of InAs nanocrystals in the SiO2 matrix. From the optical absorption spectrum, the absorption edge exhibits a very large blueshift of 3.3 eV with respect to that of bulk InAs. The double-peak ultraviolet photoluminescence is observed. Our experimental results show that this double-peak phenomenon originates from the radiative recombination of the quantum-confined electron-heavy hole excitons and electron-split-off hole excitons.