Silicon Oxycarbide Thin films and Nanostructures: Synthesis, Properties and Applications

Silicon oxycarbide (SiCxOy) has been extensively investigated due to its wide use in the Si semiconductor industry in applications that include low-k dielectrics, passivation layers, and etch-stop layers. Furthermore, SiCxOy research has been exploring its prospective use in numerous other technological usages, such as lighting, energy, and biological applications. The latter include white light-emitting materials, hydrogen storage materials, gas sensors, anode materials for lithium batteries, and biomedical devices. SiCxOy materials can intensively luminescence in a broad emission spectral range that spans the ultraviolet, the visible, and even the near-infrared spectrum, when doped with erbium. Herein, we present pertinent results on the material behaviors from chemically synthesized SiCxOy thin films and nanowires. Moreover, their light-emitting properties and underlying mechanisms for light emission are explored in conjunction with data from their thin film counterparts, which are also employed as baseline comparison metric. We further highlight major challenges and promises of such materials.