Origin of white light luminescence from Si+/C+ sequentially implanted and annealed silica

The white light luminescence is observed from the silica slides implanted by sequential Si+ and C+ ions or only by C+ ions followed by thermal annealing. In the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, their white emissions cover the whole visible spectral range from 350 to 800 nm. The influence of thermal annealing on the PL of the implanted samples was studied. The microstructural and optical analysis allow us to figure out the origin of the white light emission, which is mainly attributed to the emission of graphite like C clusters although the contributions from the emissions of the Si and SiC nanocrystals are also included. Compared to the white light emission of C+ implanted sample, the white light emission of Si+/C+ implanted sample has higher thermal stability. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3703668]