White Electroluminescence of SiO_xC_y Films Obtained by HW-CVD Using Vinyl Silane

White electroluminescence (EL) at room temperature was observed using a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) capacitor with the silicon oxicarbide (SiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</inf>C<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">y</inf>) film as an active layer. SiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</inf>C<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">y</inf> films were deposited by the hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HW-CVD) system from vinyl silane (VS) precursor. The active film was thermally annealed at 450°C in nitrogen (N2). Blue-red photoluminescence (PL) was observed from the as-deposited film, while the annealed film displayed a blue-green emission band. The emission was attributed to defects such as weak-oxygen bond (WOB), the neutral oxygen vacancy (NOV), and the non-bridging oxygen hole center (NBOHC). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy showed an increase in the absorption band related to the rocking mode in Si-O-Si bonds after the thermal annealing. This band could be related to the changes in the PL. White electroluminescence (EL) was observed at voltages greater than 25 V and a current density of 1 x 10–<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> AI cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> on the entire device area. The EL and PL emission mechanisms at 409 nm were related to NOV defects. Based on EL and current-voltage measurements, space charge limited conduction (SCLC) was proposed as the charge transport mechanism. These results highlight that the SiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</inf>C<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">y</inf> obtained from vinyl silane is a promising candidate for developing silicon-based white light-emitting devices.