Enhanced Red Emission from Amorphous Silicon Carbide Films via Nitrogen Doping

The enhanced red photoluminescence (PL) from Si-rich amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC_x) films was analyzed in this study using nitrogen doping. The increase in nitrogen doping concentration in films results in the significant enhancement of PL intensity by more than three times. The structure and bonding configuration of films were investigated using Raman and Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopies, respectively. The PL and analysis results of bonding configurations of films suggested that the enhancement of red PL is mainly caused by the reduction in nonradiative recombination centers as a result of the weak Si-Si bonds substituted by Si-N bonds.