Structural Rearrangement of a-SiOx:H Films with Pulse Photon Annealing

Amorphous SiOx films with silicon nanoclusters are a new interesting material from the standpoint of the physics, technology, and possible practical applications, since such films can exhibit photoluminescence due to size quantization. Moreover, the optical properties of these structures can be controlled by varying the size and the content of silicon nanoclusters in the SiOx film, as well as by transforming nanoclusters into nanocrystals by means of high-temperature annealing. However, during the annealing of nonstoichiometric silicon oxide, significant changes can occur in the phase composition and the structure of the films. The results of investigations on the crystallization of silicon nanoclusters in a SiOx matrix have shownthat, even a very fast method of annealing using PPA leads to the formation of large silicon crystallites. This also causes the crystallization of at least a part of the oxide phase in the form of silicon hydroxide H6O7Si2. 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