The role of defect states in the creation of photoluminescence in SrTiO3

We discuss the nature of visible photoluminescence at room temperature in amorphous strontium titanate in the light of the results of a recent experimental and quantum mechanical theoretical study. Our calculation of the electronic structure involves the use of first-principles molecular calculations to simulate the variation of the electronic structure in the strontium titanate crystalline phase, which is known to have a direct band gap, and we also make an in-depth examination of amorphous strontium titanate. The results of our simulations of amorphous strontium titanate indicate that the formation of five-fold coordination in the amorphous system may introduce delocalized electronic levels in the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital. These delocalized electronic levels are ascribed to the formation of a tail in the absorbance-spectrum curve. Optical absorption measurements experimentally showed the presence of a tail. The results are interpreted by the nature of these exponential optical edges and tails associated with defects promoted by the disordered structure of the amorphous material. We associate them with localized states in the band gap.