Abstract
Blue luminescent colloidal silicon nanocrystals (Si-ncs) were synthesized at room temperature by nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of a single-crystal silicon target in de-ionized water. Irregular Si-nc fragments obtained by laser ablation are stabilized into regularly shaped, spherical, and well-separated aggregates during the aging process in water. Aging in de-ionized water for several weeks improved the photoluminescence (PL) intensity. At least two weeks of aging are necessary for observation of broad blue room temperature PL with a maximum centered at 420 nm. Detailed structural analysis revealed that agglomerates after aging for several months contain Si-ncs with irregular shape smaller than the quantum confinement limit (<5 nm). These blue luminescent Si-ncs dispersed in de-ionized water exhibited a PL decay time of 6 ns, which is much faster than that of Si-ncs prepared in traditional ways (usually on the order of microseconds). The oxidized Si-ncs with quantum confinement effects are responsible for a PL band around 400 nm visible to the naked eye at room temperature.
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Švrček, V., Sasaki, T., Katoh, R. et al. Aging effect on blue luminescent silicon nanocrystals prepared by pulsed laser ablation of silicon wafer in de-ionized water. Appl. Phys. B 94, 133–139 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-008-3296-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-008-3296-8