Experimental and theoretical study of ultraviolet-induced structural/optical instability in nano silicon-based luminescence.

Autor: Malloy, James, Mantey, Kevin, Maximenko, Yulia, Bahceci, Ersin, Morgan, Huw, Yamani, Zain, Boparai, Jack, Puthalath, Krithik, Nayfeh, Munir H.
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Applied Physics; 2018, Vol. 124 Issue 4, pN.PAG-N.PAG, 7p, 2 Color Photographs, 1 Diagram, 5 Graphs
Abstrakt: Nano silicon is emerging as an active element for UV applications due to quantum confinement-induced widening of the Si bandgap, amenability to integration on Si, and less sensitivity to temperature. NanoSi-based UV applications include deep space exploration, high temperature propulsion, solar photovoltaics, and particle detection in high energy accelerators. However, the viability of the technology is limited by a complex nanoSi optical quenching instability. Here, we examined the time dynamics of UV-induced luminescence of sub 3-nm nanoSi. The results show that luminescence initially quenches, but it develops a stability at ∼50% level with a time characteristic of minutes. Upon isolation, partial luminescence recovery/reversibility occurs with a time characteristics of hours. To discern the origin of the instability, we perform first principles atomistic calculations of the molecular/electronic structure in 1-nm Si particles as a function of Si structural bond expansion, using time dependent density functional theory, with structural relaxation applied in both ground and excited states. For certain bond expansion/relaxation, the results show that the low-lying triplet state dips below the singlet ground state, providing a plausible long-lasting optical trap that may account for luminescence quenching as well as bond cleavage and irreversibility. Time dynamics of device-operation that accommodates the quenching/recovery time dynamics is suggested as a means to alleviate the instability and allow control of recovery, which promises to make it an effective alternative to UV-enhanced Si or metal-based wide-bandgap sensing technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index