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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
We present semi-empirical tight-binding and ab-initio local density calculations demonstrating the (meta)stability of self-trapped excitons in silicon nanocrystallites. These are obtained not only for surface dimer bonds passivated for instance by hydrogen atoms or by silicon oxide but also for “normal” nearest-neighbors bonds. Light emission from these trapped excitons is predicted in the infrared or in the visible. We are thus led to the interpretation that part of the luminescence is due to such localized states while optical absorption is characteristic of quantum confinement effects. These conclusions should extend to other semiconductor crystallites.