Study of ultraviolet photoluminescence from SiC nanorods

Silicon carbide （SiC） nanorods were synthesized via catalyst-assistant crystallization of amorphous silicon carbonitride. An intensive sharp photoluminescence peak at 378 nm was observed from the SiC nanorods. SEM, TEM, HRTEM and XRD was used to characterize the structure. XRD pattern showed that the nanorods are pure 3C-SiC containing stacking faults. The HRTEM image showed that the stacking faults were threefold stacking faults, which resembled the structure of 6H-SiC. We attribute the emission to these stacking faults, and discussed the emission mechanism.