Effect of Post-Implantation Heat Treatment Conditions on Photoluminescent Properties of Ion-Synthesized Gallium Oxide...

A novel and promising way for creating nanomaterials based on gallium oxide is the ion synthesis of Ga₂O₃ nanocrystals in a SiO₂/Si dielectric matrix. The properties of nanocrystals are determined by the conditions of ion synthesis-the parameters of ion irradiation and post-implantation heat treatment. In this work, the light-emitting properties of Ga₂O₃ nanocrystals were studied depending on the temperature and annealing atmosphere. It was found that annealing at a temperature of 900 °C leads to the appearance of intense luminescence with a maximum at ~480 nm caused by the recombination of donor-acceptor pairs. An increase in luminescence intensity upon annealing in an oxidizing atmosphere is shown. Based on data from photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, a hypothesis about the possibility of the participation of a quantum-size effect during radiative recombination is proposed. A mechanism for the formation of Ga₂O₃ nanocrystals during ion synthesis is suggested, which makes it possible to describe the change in the luminescent properties of the synthesized samples with varying conditions of post-implantation heat treatment.