Enhanced ultraviolet and visible photoluminescence of ZnO/Zn2SiO4/SiO2/Si multilayer structure

In this paper, a ZnO/Zn2SiO4/SiO2/Si multilayer structure is fabricated on silicon substrate. The highly c-axis oriented ZnO layer was prepared by pulsed electron deposition system. XRD and HRTEM results show that the initial ZnO/Si bilayer structure transferred to ZnO/Zn2SiO4/SiO2/Si multilayer structure after heat treatment due to interfacial reaction. Enhancements of ultraviolet and visible light emissions were observed due to the improved ZnO crystallinity and the formation of Zn2SiO4 nanoparticles embedded in the amorphous interfacial layer. This study facilitates the understanding of optical behaviors of ZnO, also suggests a potential method to fabricate ZnO/Zn2SiO4/SiO2/Si multilayer structure for luminescence and phosphorescence.