Structural and optical properties of silicon nanoparticles prepared by pulsed laser ablation in hydrogen background gas

We studied the structural and optical properties of silicon (Si) nanoparticles (np-Si) prepared by pulsed laser ablation (PLA) in hydrogen (H-2) background gas. The mean diameter of the np-Si was estimated to be approximately 5 nm. The infrared absorption corresponding to Si-H-n (n=1,2,3) bonds was observed at around 2100 cm(-1), and a Raman scattering peak corresponding to crystalline Si was observed at around 520 cm(-1). These results indicate that nanoparticles are not an alloy of Si and hydrogen but Si nanocrystal covered by hydrogen or hydrogenated silicon. This means that surface passivated Si nanoparticles can be prepared by PLA in H-2 gas. The band-gap energy of np-Si prepared in H-2 gas (1.9 eV) was larger than that of np-Si prepared in He gas (1.6 eV) even though they are almost the same diameter. After decreasing the hydrogen content in np-Si by thermal annealing, the band-gap energy decreased, and reached the same energy level as np-Si prepared in He gas. Thus, the optical properties of np-Si were affected by the hydrogenation of the surface of np-Si.