Light emission from Si/SiO2 superlattices fabricated by RPECVD

Si/SiO2 superlattices that exhibit intense luminescence properties were fabricated by remote plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. (RPECVD) and subsequent rapid thermal annealing for silicon crystallization. The effects of charge carrier confinement like blue shifting of the PL spectra and intensity increase with decreasing Silicon quantum well thickness are observed in low temperature photoluminescence experiments. The Si/SiO2 interface quality is calculated from capacitance voltage (CV) measurements on metal oxide semiconductor teststructures showing excellent layer and Si/SiO2 interface properties. The Si crystallization process is investigated and analyzed by Raman and transmission electron microscopy. Decreasing the Si quantum well thickness to 2 nm leads to light emission at room temperature.