A series of zero-dimensional Ge/Si quantum dots (QDs) samples are fabricated by inducing the transformation from the two-dimensional Ge thin film, which is grown by the traditional direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering, via regulating the annealing process. The QD density increases sharply after the post rapid thermal annealing (PRTA). The observations of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy suggest that the good morphology of Ge QDs results from an appropriate thermodynamics and kinetics surrounding shaped by the cooperative interaction of the Ge-Si lattice mismatch, the film's surface temperature, and the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between Ge and Si. The photoluminescence (PL) peaks of Ge QDs are detected in monolayer Ge QDs with ultrahigh density at 17 K. The Metal-Ge/Si QDs-Metal (MGM) photodetector fabricated from the ultrahigh-density QDs sample exhibits a relatively high current gain, absolute photoelectric responsivity, and internal quantum efficiency (IQE). Our results demonstrate that the high-quality Ge QDs with strong light absorption and quantum confinement effect can be realized by modulating DC magnetron sputtering and the PRTA process. This paves the way for realizing silicon-based optoelectronic devices with high performance by the traditional, relatively low-cost, and large-scale production nanomaterial fabricating method.

Ge/Si quantum dots (QDs) are fabricated by driving the transformation of a Ge thin film-deposited using the direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering technique by controlling the subsequent in situ annealing processes. The experimental results indicate that, with the increase in annealing temperature, the volume of Ge QDs increases monotonically, while the QD density initially increases then decreases. The maximal QD density can reach 1.1 × 1011 cm−2 after a 10 min annealing at 650 °C. The Ge–Ge peak of Ge QDs obtained by Raman spectroscopy initially undergoes a blue shift and then a red shift with increasing annealing temperature. This behavior results from the competition between the dislocation and the strain relaxation in QDs. Concurrently, a series of photoelectric detectors are fabricated to evaluate the photoelectric performance of these annealed Ge QD samples. A high-photoelectricity response is demonstrated in the QD sample annealed at 650 °C. Our results pave a promising way for whole-silicon-material optical-electronic integration based on a simple and practicable fabrication method.

Polystyrene (PS) nanoparticle films with non-close-packed arrays were prepared by using ion beam etching technology. The effects of etching time, beam current, and voltage on the size reduction of PS particles were well investigated. A slow etching rate, about 9.2 nm/min, is obtained for the nanospheres with the diameter of 100 nm. The rate does not maintain constant with increasing the etching time. This may result from the thermal energy accumulated gradually in a long-time bombardment of ion beam. The etching rate increases nonlinearly with the increase of beam current, while it increases firstly then reach its saturation with the increase of beam voltage. The diameter of PS nanoparticles can be controlled in the range from 34 to 88 nm. Based on the non-close-packed arrays of PS nanoparticles, the ordered silicon (Si) nanopillars with their average diameter of 54 nm are fabricated by employing metal-assisted chemical etching technique. Our results pave an effective way to fabricate the ordered nanostructures with the size less than 100 nm.

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We investigated the growth and evolution of Si-based Ge quantum dots (Ge/Si QDs) under low Ge deposition (1.2–4.4 nm thick) using magnetron sputtering. The morphology and structure of QDs were analyzed with the help of an atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, Raman, surface energy theory and dynamics theory, the photoelectric properties of QDs were characterized by photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The results showed that the growth mechanism of QDs conformed to Stranski–Krastanow mode, but the typical thickness of the wetting layer was nearly three times higher than those derived from conventional technologies such as molecular beam epitaxy, chemical vapor deposition, solid phase epitaxy and so on. Meanwhile, the shape evolution of QDs was very different from existing reports. The specific internal causes of these novel phenomena were analyzed and confirmed and reported in this paper. In addition, the AFM, Raman, and PL tests all indicated that the QDs grown when 3.4 nm Ge was deposited have the most excellent morphology, structure, and optoelectronic performance. Our work lays a foundation for further exploration of the controllable growth of QDs at high deposition rates, which is a new way to realize the industrialization of QDs used for future devices.

We prepared multilayered Si-based Ge quantum dots (Ge/Si QDs) by using magnetron sputtering technique and reported the corresponding morphology evolution. The increased temperature can improve the Si-isolated-layer crystallinity and Ge atom mobility to increase the density, size and spatial distribution uniformity of top-layer QDs. The morphology and vertical correlation between layers of QDs at different temperatures exhibited different phenomena or laws, and had been explained in this work, which made it possible to control the quality of multilayer QDs more effectively in the high-rate growth, and laid a foundation for the industrial production of active layers of optoelectronic devices.

Silicon-based germanium quantum dots (Ge/Si QDs) have shown important application potential in optoelectronic devices due to their excellent properties, which made their controllable growth of morphology and structure become a research hotspot in recent years. This paper discussed the morphological evolution of Ge/Si QDs undergone different annealing, such as natural cooling, in-situ annealing followed by natural cooling, natural cooling followed by rising temperature for annealing, and natural cooling followed by moving the sample into a rapid annealing furnace for annealing. The formation process of QDs was analyzed based on the measurement results of atomic force microscope (AFM) and the thermodynamic and kinetic theories of thin film growth. The results showed that the influence of in-situ annealing in magnetron sputtering growth chamber on the morphology of QDs was different from that of annealing in rapid furnace due to the great difference of temperature-time curves between the two processes. Surprisingly, high-density and small-size Ge/Si QDs can be produced by using a process of in-situ natural cooling followed by rapid annealing, which provided a new idea for the preparation of high-quality QDs used for future devices.

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