Optical emission from C60-coupled β-FeSi2 nanocomposites

C 60 -coupled β-FeSi2 nanocomposite structures were fabricated and their photoluminescence (PL) properties were investigated. The nanocomposites exhibit a pinned PL peak at 570nm and a band edge at ∼370nm. Spectral analyses suggest that the pinned PL behavior is closely related to both the β-FeSi2 nanocrystals and the coupled C60. A band-mixing model based on the direct and indirect gaps in a nanoenvironment consisting of mainly β-FeSi2 nanocrystals and C60 is proposed and used to derive the electronic states. Good agreement is achieved between the theoretical calculation and experimental results.