Recently, solid-phase recrystallization of ultrathin indium antimonide nanocrystals (InSb NCs (films grown on SiO2/Si substrate is very attractive, because of the rapid development of thermal annealing technique. In this study, the recrystallization behavior of 35 nm indium antimonide film was studied. Through X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, it is demonstrated that the InSb film is composed of nanocrystals after high temperature rapid thermal annealing. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the film has a smooth surface and is composed of tightly packed spherical grains, the average grain size is about 12.3 nm according to XRD results. The optical bandgap of the InSb NCs film analyzed by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy measurement is around 0.26 eV. According to the current-voltage characteristics of the InSb NCs/SiO2/p-Si heterojunction, the film has the rectifying behavior and the turn-on voltage value is near 1 V.

Ultrathin InSb films on SiO 2 /Si substrates are prepared by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 300, 400, and 500 • C, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that InSb film treated by RTA at 500 • C, which is higher than its melting temperature (about 485 • C), shows a monocrystalline-like feature. A high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) micrograph shows that melt recrystallization of InSb film on SiO 2 /Si (111) substrate is along the (111) planes. The transmittances of InSb films decrease and the optical band gaps redshift from 0.24 eV to 0.19 eV with annealing temperature increasing from 300 • C to 500 • C, which is indicated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurement. The observed changes demonstrate that RTA is a viable technique for improving characteristics of InSb films, especially the melt-recrystallized film treated by RTA at 500 • C.