Strong ultraviolet photoluminescence from silicon oxide films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Intense ultraviolet photoluminescence centered at 370 nm was observed from magnetron-sputtered silicon oxide films after they were annealed at about 1000 °C in ${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{2}}$ atmosphere. This photoluminescence is found to be associated with the formation of nanocrystal silicon particles in the specially structured ${\mathrm{SiO}}_{\mathrm{2}},$ which highly resembles the oxide layer of porous silicon. The luminescence centers at the interface between the nanocrystal silicon particles and the ${\mathrm{SiO}}_{\mathrm{2}}$ matrix are responsible for the strong ultraviolet luminescence.