Enhanced Fluorescence Emission from Silicon-Rich Nitride Guided Mode Resonance Gratings

A one-dimensional subwavelength grating structure is used to enhance the emission from Si nanocrystals embedded in silicon-rich nitride film. The enhancement is attributed to guided-mode resonance effects supported by subwavelength gratings. Both the reflection and photoluminescence experiments are presented aimed at acquiring guided mode spectrum and the emission enhancement factor. A ten-fold enhancement of the fluorescence emission by Si nanocrystals is obtained at the low group velocity band edge of subwavelength gratings. Our results indicate that silicon-rich nitride is a suitable material for the fabrication of high efficiency light emitting structures. The versatility of silicon-rich nitride material system has a far-reaching significance for the realization of optically active complementary metal oxide semiconductor devices.