At the lower temperature region below 200 K, the τ nr value decreases with decreasing temperature, and the τ PL becomes dominated by the τ nr. This trend can be

understood by the existence of non-emissive localized or trap selleck chemical states as discussed above. The τ nr value increases toward the maxima with increasing temperature because of the thermal excitation of the carriers from the localized or trap levels to the emissive ones. In contrast, in the high-temperature regions toward room temperature, the τ nr decreases with increasing temperature because of the thermal escape from the emissive level beyond the barriers. These PL dynamics for the two slower decaying PL components of I 1 and I 2, expressed by the temperature dependences of the τ r and τ nr, agree well with the thermal quenching

and excitation processes elucidated by the temperature dependences of intensities Adavosertib price of these PL components. selleckchem Conclusions We have studied temperature dependences of time-resolved PL in the two-dimensional high-density Si ND arrays fabricated by NB etching using bio-nano-templates, where the PL time profiles with various temperatures are fitted by triple exponential decay curves. We find that the time-integrated PL intensities in the two slower decaying components depend strongly on temperature, which is attributed to PL quenching due to thermal escape of electrons from emissive states of individual NDs in addition to thermal excitations of carriers from localized or trap states in the individual NDs to the emissive ones. The temperature dependences of the PL intensity were analyzed by the three-level model. The following thermal activation energies corresponding to the thermal escape Staurosporine of the electron are obtained to 410 and 490 meV, depending on the PL components. In addition, we find dark states of photo-excited carriers, which can be attributed to the separate localization of the electron and hole into different NDs with the localization energies of 70 and 90 meV, depending on the PL components. The PL decay times of these two decaying components ranging from 70 to 800 ps are also affected by this thermal escape at

high temperatures from 240 to 300 K. The fastest decaying component shows a constant decay time of about 10 ps for various temperatures, in which the decay characteristic is dominated by the electron tunneling among NDs. Acknowledgments This work is supported in part by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aids for Scientific Research (S) No. 22221007. References 1. Cho E-C, Park S, Hao X, Song D, Conibeer G, Park S-C, Green MA: Silicon quantum dot/crystalline silicon solar cells. Nanotechnology 2008, 19:245201.CrossRef 2. Conibeer G, Green M, Corkish R, Cho Y, Cho E-C, Jiang C-W, Fangsuwannarak T, Pink E, Huang Y, Puzzer T, Trupke T, Richards B, Shalav A, Lin K-l: Silicon nanostructures for third generation photovoltaic solar cells. Thin Solid Films 2006, 511–512:654.CrossRef 3.