Defect-related light emission from processed He-implanted silicon

Photoluminescence (PL) from He+-implanted Si (Si:He, He+ dose—2×1016 cm−2, at 150 keV) is related to its microstructure; it has been tuned by processing at 720–1400 K under hydrostatic Ar pressure (HP, up to 1.2 GPa). Processing of Si:He at 720 K for 10 h results in an appearance of the D2 and D3 dislocation-related PL lines, these last of the highest intensity. Only the D1 dislocation-related line of intensity increasing with HP has been detected after processing at 920–1070 K. The D1 (of the highest intensity), D2 and D3 PL lines are observed after the treatment at 1270 K. No dislocation-related PL has been detected for Si:He processed at 1400 K. The treatment of Si:He at 720–1270 K under HP makes it possible to produce Si:He of specific microstructure resulting in strong PL at 0.81, 0.87 or 0.94 eV.