Localized State-Induced Enhanced Intrinsic Phonon-Free Optical Transition in Silicon Nanocrystals

TL;DR

This study reveals that silicon nanocrystals can exhibit phonon-free, direct-like optical transitions due to localized state effects and quantum confinement, resolving longstanding debates about their luminescence mechanisms.

Contribution

It demonstrates that small silicon nanocrystals can achieve strong direct optical transitions through localized state-induced effects, challenging previous models based on effective mass approximation.

Findings

Small Si NCs show phonon-free optical transitions.

Localized states enhance electron-hole overlap, increasing emission.

Quantum confinement distorts electron distribution, enabling rapid optical processes.

Abstract

Silicon photoluminescence and lasing have been critical issues to breakthrough bottlenecks in the understanding of luminescence mechanisms. Unfortunately, long-standing disputes about the exciton recombination mechanism and fluorescence lifetime remain unresolved, especially about whether silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) can realize fast direct-bandgap-like optical transitions. Here, using ground-state and excited-state density functional theory (DFT), we obtained intrinsic phonon-free optical transitions at sizes from Si22 to Si705, showing that very small Si NCs can realize a strong direct optical transition. Orbital labeling results show that this rapid transition does not come from the {\Gamma}-{\Gamma} -like transition, contrary to the conclusions from the effective mass approximation (EMA) and that {\Gamma}-X mixing leads to a quasi-direct bandgap. This anomalous transition is particularly intense with decreasing size (or enhancement of quantum confinement). By investigating electron and hole distributions generated in the optical transition, localized state-induced enhanced emission (LIEE) in Si NCs was proposed. Quantum confinement (QC) distorts the excited-state electron spatial distribution by localizing Bloch waves into the NC core, resulting in increased hole and electron overlap, thus inducing a fast optical process. This work resolves important debates and proposes LIEE to explain the anomalous luminescence--a phase transition from weak (or none) luminescent state to strong optical transition, which will aid attempts at realizing high-radiative-rate NCs materials and application-level Si lasers.