Evolution of structural and optical properties of nanostructured silicon carbon films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition

► Nanostructured silicon carbon films show visible photoluminescence at room temperature. ► Optical bandgap, C and H contents are dependent on plasma radiofrequency (rf) power. ► The film structure evolves from micro to nanocrystalline phase with increasing rf power. ► rf power is an effective tool to control the size of Si nanocrystallites.