Efficient intraband radiative recombination in Bi-doped Si nanocrystals

Abstract It is shown theoretically that sufficiently strong short-range potential of a donor in combination with the effect of quantum confinement is capable of creating great splitting of the energy levels in the conduction band of small Si nanocrystals with a Bi atom. Consequently, radiative transitions between the split levels can generate photons of the near-infrared and, even, visible ranges. Typical rates of these intraband transitions are of the order of 10 7 s −1 , which allows one to hope for high efficiency of possible luminescence in the system.