Size-monodisperse, stable 15 Å diameter silicon nanocrystals were synthesized in significant quantities using supercritical octanol as a capping ligand. The silicon nanocrystals exhibit an indirect band gap with discrete electronic transitions in the absorbance and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra. The octanol-capped clusters show efficient blue band-edge photoemission with a luminescence quantum yield of 23 % at room temperature.