Effect of X‐ray irradiation on the blinking of single silicon nanocrystals. Issue 12 (21st September 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pevere, Federico; Bruhn, Benjamin; Sangghaleh, Fatemeh; Hormozan, Yashar; Sychugov, Ilya; Linnros, Jan
• Is Part Of: Physica status solidi. Volume 212:Issue 12(2015:Dec.)
• Page Start: 2692
• Page End: 2695
• Publication Date: 2015-09-21
• Subjects: blinking -- Nanocrystals -- photoluminescence -- silicon -- X‐ray irradiation; Solid state physics -- Periodicals; Solids -- Industrial applications -- Periodicals; 530.41
• DOI: 10.1002/pssa.201532652
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1862-6300

Abstract

Abstract: Photoluminescence (PL) intermittency (blinking) observed for single silicon nanocrystals (Si‐NCs) embedded in oxide is usually attributed to trapping/de‐trapping of carriers in the vicinity of the NC. Following this model, we propose that blinking could be modified by introducing new trap sites, for example, via X‐rays. In this work, we present a study of the effect of X‐ray irradiation (up to 65 kGy in SiO 2 ) on the blinking of single Si‐NCs embedded in oxide nanowalls. We show that the luminescence characteristics, such as spectrum and life‐time, are unaffected by X‐rays. However, substantial changes in ON‐state PL intensity, switching frequency, and duty cycle emerge from the blinking traces, while the ON‐ and OFF‐ time distributions remain of mono‐exponential character. Although we do not observe a clear monotonic dependence of the blinking parameters on the absorbed dose, our study suggests that, in the future, Si‐NCs could be blinking‐engineered via X‐ray irradiation.