Hydrogen induced optically-active defects in silicon photonic nanocavities

Boninelli, S. et al. (2014) Hydrogen induced optically-active defects in silicon photonic nanocavities. Optics Express, 22(8), pp. 8843-8855. (doi: 10.1364/OE.22.008843) (PMID:24787774)

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Abstract

We demonstrate intense room temperature photoluminescence (PL) from optically active hydrogen- related defects incorporated into crystalline silicon. Hydrogen was incorporated into the device layer of a silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer by two methods: hydrogen plasma treatment and ion implantation. The room temperature PL spectra show two broad PL bands centered at 1300 and 1500 nm wavelengths: the first one relates to implanted defects while the other band mainly relates to the plasma treatment. Structural characterization reveals the presence of nanometric platelets and bubbles and we attribute different features of the emission spectrum to the presence of these different kind of defects. The emission is further enhanced by introducing defects into photonic crystal (PhC) nanocavities. Transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed that the isotropicity of plasma treatment causes the formation of a higher defects density around the whole cavity compared to the ion implantation technique, while ion implantation creates a lower density of defects embedded in the Si layer, resulting in a higher PL enhancement. These results further increase the understanding of the nature of optically active hydrogen defects and their relation with the observed photoluminescence, which will ultimately lead to the development of intense and tunable crystalline silicon light sources at room temperature.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Shakoor, Dr Abdul
Authors: Boninelli, S., Franzò, G., Cardile, P., Priolo, F., Lo Savio, R., Galli, M., Shakoor, A., O’Faolain, L., Krauss, T. F., Vines, L., and Svensson, B. G.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
Journal Name:Optics Express
Publisher:Optical Society of America
ISSN:1094-4087
ISSN (Online):1094-4087
Published Online:07 April 2014

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