• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.42-49
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• 2011

We deposited $SiN_x$ thin films by using PECVD technique at $200^{\circ}C$ with various flow ratios of the $SiH_4/N_2$ gases. The photoluminescence measurements revealed that the maximum emission wavelength shifted to long wavelength as the ratio increased, however, positions of the several peak wavelengths, such as 1.9, 2.2, 2.4, and 3.1 eV, were independent on the ratio. Changes of the photoluminescence spectra were measured in the $N_{2}-$, $H_{2}-$, and $O_2$-annealed films. The luminescence intensities increased after the annealing process. In particular, the maximum emission wavelength shifted to short wavelength after $H_{2}-$ or $O_2$-annealing. But there were still several peaks on the spectra of all annealed films, several peak positions remained to be unchanged after the annealing. As for the light emission mechanism, we have considered the defect states of the Si- and N- dangling bonds in the $SiN_x$ energy gap, so that the energy transitions from/to the conduction/valence bands and the defect states in the gap were attributed to the light emission in the $SiN_x$ films. The experimental results point to the possibility of a Si-based light emission materials for flexible Si-based electro-optic devices.