title: Optical and structural features of silicon-rich hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride thin films.
abstract: A systematic study of fabrication and effect of post-deposition processing on the optical and structural features of silicon-rich hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride thin films deposited by Hg-sensitized Photo-Chemical Vapour Deposition technique is presented. Both deposition parameters and post-deposition thermal treatment resulted into substantial change in the refractive index associated with the densification of the film. Our studies reveal that the presence of hydrogen and its out-diffusion upon thermal treatment play a crucial role in the overall structural evolution, specially the stabilization of individual phases such as Si and Si3N4. We further report the room-temperature photoluminescence from as-deposited films, which is due to formation of silicon nanostructures in crystalline and amorphous forms. These studies are of great interest from the prospective of commercially viable Si-based technology.
authors.affiliation: Nanophotonics and Nanostech Laboratories, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India.
authors.forename: Sarab Preet
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Claudio J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Otón
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Santanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: G Vijaya
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Prakash