Modeling the contribution of quantum confinement to luminescence from silicon nanoclusters

We present a model for the luminescence spectrum of silicon nanoclusters. We propose that the major contribution to luminescence is from radiative recombination of confined excitons (quantum confinement). Utilizing the effective mass approximation we consider the variation in oscillator strength with cluster size and the associated change in the number of available free carriers. By varying both the mean cluster size and size distribution of silicon nanoclusters, the luminescence spectra are modeled to a good fit. We compare our model with experimental photoluminescence and electroluminescence data from this group and from others. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(98)00307-7].