Photoluminescence study of the structural evolution of amorphous and crystalline silicon nanoclusters during the thermal annealing of silicon suboxide films with different stoichiometry

The effect of the stoichiometry of thin silicon suboxide films on the processes of the formation and evolution of silicon nanoclusters during thermal annealing is studied by photoluminescence measurements. The samples are produced by the thermal sputtering of a SiO powder in an oxygen atmosphere, with the subsequent deposition of a 500 nm-thick SiO$_x$ layer onto a Si substrate. The morphological properties and size of Si nanoclusters are explored by analyzing the photoluminescence spectra and kinetics. A comparative study of the luminescence properties of thin SiO$_x$ layers with different stoichiometric parameters, $x$ = 1.10, 1.29, 1.56, and 1.68, is accomplished for samples annealed at different temperatures in the range 850 to 1200$^\circ$C. The dependences of the photoluminescence decay time on the annealing temperature, the stoichiometric parameter of the initial silicon suboxide film, and the nanocluster size are studied.