Photoluminescence Stability Of Silicon Suboxide Thin Films

Photoluminescence (PL) stability of silicon suboxide (SiOx, 0 l.5) under light soaking and thermal processing has been investigated. As the oxygen content increases, the PL peak position shifts to the visible, with improved stability against measurement temperature and light soaking. With increasing annealing temperature, the PL spectra shifted to infrared, characteristic of a- Si:H. With annealing above 550 °C, visible PL is lost while infrared PL can be recovered by rehydrogenation of Si-dangling bond defects. Infrared absorption, transmission electron microscopy, visible absorption, and photocurrent indicate a disproportionation reaction resulting in a-Si phase segregation.