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We have demonstrated a stimulated photoluminescence (PL) at 694 and 692 nm whose emission peak has a Lorentzian shape with a full width at half maximum of 0.5–0.6 nm. This stimulated emission comes from the nanostructures on porous silicon oxidized fabricated by irradiation and annealing treatment. Controlling the time of annealing can produce a good coherent emission. A model has been proposed for explaining the stimulated emission in which the trap states of the interface between oxide of silicon and porous nanocrystal play an important role. Calculation shows that trap electronic states appear in the energy gap of the smaller nanocrystal when Si==O bonds or Si–O–Si bonds are formed. In the theoretical model, the most important factor in the enhancement and pinning effect of PL emission is the relative position between the level of the trap states and the level of the photoexcitation in the silicon nanocrystal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response by Wei-Qi Huang, Shi-Rong Liu, Feng Jin, Hai-Xu Wang and Shui-Jie Qin to a letter to the editor about the article "Stimulated emission from trap electronic states in oxide of nanocrystal Si" in the August 2008 issue is presented.