In-situ fabricated amorphous silicon quantum dots embedded in silicon nitride matrix: Photoluminescence control and electroluminescence device fabrication

Herein, we report that high-quality SiN:H films embedded with Si QDs were in-situ fabricated and prepared by the reactive facing target sputtering, which relies on tuning N2 and Ar mixture gas flow ratio. The size of Si QDs in SiN:H films can be tuned from 3.87 nm to 1.40 nm, which exhibit color-tunable photoluminescence from red to blue in the visible region. The microstructure evolution and optical properties of SiN:H films embedded with Si QDs were analyzed by FTIR, Raman, PL, and TRPL measurements, respectively. Considering their unique emission properties, SiN:H films embedded with Si QDs were especially utilized as the emitting layer for fabricating high-performance EL SiN-based LEDs. The broad EL emission properties of the devices were explored by both experimental observations and a theoretical model. This work offers a novel idea to prepare high-quality SiN:H films embedded with Si QDs and a deep understanding of their optoelectronic properties. [Display omitted] •SiN:H films embedded with Si QDs with photoluminescence from red to blue were in-situ fabricated by FTS technique.•high-performance EL SiN-based LEDs were fabricated by using SiN:H films embedded with Si QDs as the emitting layer.•broad EL emission spectra is attributed to the QCE of QDs and radiative recombination of defect-related band-tail states