Phonon decay in silicon nanocrystals: Fast phonon recycling

We present a theory of electron-phonon interaction and phonon decay in Si nanocrystals based on sp3d5s* empirical tight-binding model and anharmonic Keating model. We demonstrate that the time of optical phonon emission by hot carriers in Si nanocrystal lies in the subpicosecond time range. However, due to the fast phonon recycling, the energy relaxation rate is determined not by the phonon emission but by the phonon decay rate. The decay rate of the optical phonon into two phonons of smaller energy is found to be in the 1-10 ps range. It is this anharmonic phonon decay process that may control the energy relaxation rate of excited carriers in Si nanocrystals.