Size and dopant-concentration dependence of photoluminescence properties of ion-implanted phosphorus- and boron-codoped Si nanocrystals

Nakamura, Toshihiro*; Adachi, Sadao*; Fujii, Minoru*; Sugimoto, Hiroshi*; Miura, Kenta*; Yamamoto, Shunya

Semiconductor nanocrystals have unique electrical and optical properties, because of the quantum confinement effect, and the doping of impurities into nanocrystals. In this study, we investigated the photoluminescence (PL) properties of phosphorus- (P) and boron- (B) co-doped Si nanocrystals (Si NCs), which was synthesized using an ion implantation technique. The Si-NC size (average diameter: 3.5, 4.4, 5.2 nm) and the P and B ion doses (0.1-4.510 cm)values were systematically varied. We find that the PL peak energy shifts to lower values with increasing the average diameters of Si NCs and PB ion dose. The results of PL measurements indicate that the PL spectra are due to the band-to-band transition at the reduced Si-NC band gap caused by the formation of impurity and the radiative transitions between defect- and/or impurity-related localized states. It was found that the PL properties can be controlled by varying the Si-NC size as well as the dopant concentration.