207th ECS Meeting, Abstract #405, copyright ECS Optical properties of nanostructures based on silicon rich silicon oxide (SRSO) thin films

The development of silicon photonics has traditionally been limited by the lack of Si-based emitters, a direct result of the inefficiency of the luminescence process in bulk silicon. When Si is taken to a nano-sized scale, however, quantum confinement effects allow luminescence to occur. One way to form silicon nanocrystals is through a high temperature anneal of silicon rich silicon oxide thin films, which causes a phase separation and nucleation of the nanocrystals within an oxide [1]. In this paper, we will first discuss important issues associated with the fabrication of SRSO thin films by electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, with compositions rangin