Optical characterization and density of states determination of silicon nanocrystals embedded in amorphous silicon based matrix

Abstract

We present a non-destructive measurement and simple analysis method for obtaining the absorption coefficient of silicon nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in an amorphous matrix. This method enables us to pinpoint the contribution of silicon NCs to the absorption spectrum of NC containing films. The density of states (DOS) of the amorphous matrix is modelled using the standard model for amorphous silicon while the NCs are modelled using one Gaussian distribution for the occupied states and one for the unoccupied states. For laser annealed a-Si0.66O0.34:H films, our analysis shows a reduction of the NC band gap from approximately 2.34–2.08 eV indicating larger mean NC size for increasing annealing laser fluences, accompanied by a reduction in NC DOS distribution width from 0.28–0.26 eV, indicating a narrower size distribution.