We report room-temperature electroluminescence (EL) from as-deposited amorphous-Si/silicon oxynitride multilayer structure prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. We prepared 8-period a-Si/SiOxNy multilayer with thickness of 4 nm both for the Si and SiOxNy sublayers. The EL spectral profile exhibits some obviously modulated features upon the barrier material. By adjusting the nitride/oxygen ratio in the barrier layer, the EL peak position can be tuned from 750 nm to 695 nm. From the result of the Raman and Fourier transform infrared results, the EL is attributed to the radiative recombination of electrons and holes in luminescent centers related to the interface. The different interface characteristics induce the shift of EL peak position.
Amorphous-layer-free nanocrystalline silicon films were prepared by a very high frequency plasma enhanced chem-ical vapor deposition （PECVD） technique using hydrogen-diluted Sill4 at 250 ℃. The dependence of the crystallinity of the film on the hydrogen dilution ratio and the film thickness was investigated. Raman spectra show that the thickness of the initial amorphous incubation layer on silicon oxide gradually decreases with increasing hydrogen dilution ratio. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that the initial amorphous incubation layer can be completely eliminated at a hydrogen dilution ratio of 98%, which is lower than that needed for the growth of amorphous-layer-free nanocrystalline silicon using an excitation frequency of 13.56 MHz. More studies on the microstructure evolution of the initial amorphous incubation layer with hydrogen dilution ratios were performed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. It is suggested that the high hydrogen dilution, as well as the higher plasma excitation frequency, plays an important role in the formation of amorphous-layer-free nanocrystalline silicon films.
