ИСТИНА

Influence of the stoichiometry of silicon suboxide (SiOx) thin films on the formation and evolution of silicon nanoclusters during thermal annealing was studied by the photoluminescence method. Samples were obtained by thermal sputtering of SiO powder in an oxygen atmosphere and subsequent deposition of SiOx film of 500 nm thickness on a silicon substrate. Determination of silicon nanoclusters morphology and size was done by analyzing the spectra and kinetics of photoluminescence. Comparative study of luminescent properties of SiOx thin layers with the stoichiometry parameters x = 1.10, 1.29, 1.56 and 1.68, annealed at different temperatures in the range from 850 to 1200 oC was carried out. The comparison of the experimental dependence of silicon nanocrystals size on annealing temperature for different values of the initial stoichiometry of SiOx films with theoretical calculations of the crystallization temperature of Si nanoclusters of different size was done. Influence of annealing temperature, stoichiometry of the initial silicon suboxide film, as well as silicon nanoclusters size on their photoluminescence lifetimes was studied.