Multi-colored luminescence from luminescent nanocrystalline silicon particles terminated by nitrogen

The visible luminescence from the hydrogen-terminated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) particles rapidly degrades by just after immersion in pure water. This was closely related to the formation of the defects due to the hydrogen-desorption from the particle surface. In solving the problem on the short time, it is necessary to fabricate a stable bonding in surrounding surface by other elements. In this paper, the photoluminescence (PL) property of the nitrogen-terminated nc-Si particles with multi-colored luminescence in pure water has been investigated. The surface composition and the luminescence property of samples were estimated by using a FT-IR spectroscopy and PL measurements. On the PL property of the samples, the nitrogen-terminated nc-Si particles brought the multi-colored luminescence and stability in the long term in comparison with the hydrogen-terminated nc-Si particles. By these results, the nitrogen- terminated nc-Si particles are expected to use in the industrial applications.