Vertical charge-carrier transport in Si nanocrystal/SiO₂ multilayer structures

Charge-carrier transport in multilayer structures of Si nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in a SiO₂ matrix grown by magnetron sputtering has been investigated. The presence of two types of Si NCs with different diameters after post-growth annealing is concluded from transmission-electron microscopy and photoluminescence measurements. Based on the electric field and temperature dependences of capacitance and resistivity, it is established that the carrier transport is best described by a combination of phonon-assisted and direct tunneling mechanisms. Poole-Frenkel tunneling seems to be a less suitable mechanism to explain the vertical carrier transport due to the very high values of refractive indices obtained within this model. The possibility to more effectively collect charge carriers generated by light in structures having Si NCs of different size is discussed.