Blue emission from hydrogen-containing a-Si:H/SiO2 multilayers and the investigation of its mechanism

A series of hydrogen-containing a-Si:H/SiO2 multilayers with different a-Si:H sublayer thickness were fabricated by layer-by-layer deposition andin situ plasma oxidation in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system (PECVD). Optical induced blue emission from the samples was observed by the naked eye at room temperature, which has never been reported in the luminescence study of Si/SiO2 multilayers up to now. Both the photoluminescence (PL) peak and the absorption edge show a blue shift as the a-Si:H sublayer thickness decreases. The origin of the blue emission and the effect of hydrogen are discussed.