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Strong visible light emission from silicon-oxycarbide nanowire arrays prepared by electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2015

Vasileios Nikas ,
Natasha Tabassum ,
Brian Ford ,
Lloyd Smith ,
Alain E. Kaloyeros  and
Spyros Gallis
Vasileios Nikas
Affiliation:
Colleges of Nanoscale Sciences and Engineering, State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York 12203, USA
Natasha Tabassum
Affiliation:
Colleges of Nanoscale Sciences and Engineering, State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York 12203, USA
Brian Ford
Affiliation:
Colleges of Nanoscale Sciences and Engineering, State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York 12203, USA
Lloyd Smith
Affiliation:
IBM Microelectronics, Semiconductor Research and Development Center, Hopewell Junction, New York 12533, USA
Alain E. Kaloyeros
Affiliation:
Colleges of Nanoscale Sciences and Engineering, State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York 12203, USA
Spyros Gallis*
Affiliation:
Colleges of Nanoscale Sciences and Engineering, State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York 12203, USA
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The present report presents results from the fabrication, structural, and optical characteristics of sub-100 nm thermal chemical vapor deposition-grown silicon-oxycarbide (SiCxOy) nanowire (NW) arrays fabricated by e-beam lithography and reactive-ion-etching. The composition of SiCxOy materials follows closely the silicon-oxycarbide stoichiometry [SiCxO2(1−x), (0 < x < 1)] as observed by compositional and structural analysis. The corresponding structural and bonding evolution of SiCxOy are well-correlated with changes in their optical properties, as demonstrated by the linear dependence of their optical gap and refractive index with [Si–C]/[Si–O] bond–area ratio. By virtue of these advantages, properly tailored SiCxOy NWs were fabricated, exhibiting strong room-temperature visible photoluminescence (PL) through engineering of [Si–C]/[Si–O] bonds. The current studies focused on the thermal-oxidation and excitation intensity behavior of SiCxOy NWs revealed their very good stability, as their luminescence characteristics remain unchanged upon annealing in oxygen ambient (250 °C), while the PL intensity dependence on the excitation power-density exhibited a linear increase up to ∼800 W/cm2.

Keywords

nanostructureluminescencestructural
Type
Invited Feature Paper
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 30 , Issue 23 , 14 December 2015 , pp. 3692 - 3699
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

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