Short-Range Order, Large-Scale Potential Fluctuations,
and Photoluminescence in Amorphous SiN_x

V. A. Gritsenko^a,*, D. V. Gritsenko^a, Yu. N. Novikov^a,
R. W. M. Kwok^b, and I. Bello^c

^aInstitute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Novosibirsk, 630090 Russia

^bDepartment of Chemistry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China

^cDepartment of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, China

*e-mail: grits@isp.nsc.ru

Received September 12, 2003

Abstract—The short-range order and electron structure of amorphous silicon nitride SiN_x (x < 4/3) have been
studied by a combination of methods including high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Neither ran-
dom bonding nor random mixture models can adequately describe the structure of this compound. An interme-
diate model is proposed, which assumes giant potential fluctuations for electrons and holes, caused by inhomo-
geneities in the local chemical composition. The characteristic scale of these fluctuations for both electrons and
holes is about 1.5eV. The photoluminescence in SiN_x is interpreted in terms of the optical transitions between
quantum states of amorphous silicon clusters. © 2004 MAIK “Nauka/Interperiodica”.

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