Synthesis and luminescence properties of silica-coated cubic silicon carbide nanocrystal composites

The authors synthesised the silica-coated multi-core SiC nanocrystal composites and studied their photoluminescence (PL) properties. The core-shell nanostructures exhibited strong luminescence stemming from quantum confinement effect with a tunable wavelength ranging from 418 to 439 nm under different excitations. The assembled thin film of the close-packed nanocomposites showed blue PL with substantially improved intensity relative to that of the pure SiC nanocrystals film. These robust blue emitting SiC/SiO2 core-shell nanostructures can serve as microlight sources with wide application potential in optoelectronics and life sciences.