Growth of silicon quantum dots by oxidation of the silicon nanocrystals embedded within silicon carbide matrix

Abstract

Articles you may be interested inPhotoluminescence properties and crystallization of silicon quantum dots in hydrogenated amorphous Si-rich silicon carbide films Effect of thickness on the photoluminescence of silicon quantum dots embedded in silicon nitride films Low-temperature synthesis of homogeneous nanocrystalline cubic silicon carbide films J. Appl. Phys. 102, 056101 (2007); 10.1063/1.2776155 H-induced effects in luminescent silicon nanostructures obtained from plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition grown Si y O 1 − y : H ( y > 1 ∕ 3 ) thin films annealed in ( Ar + 5 % H 2 )A moderately low temperature (≤800 • C) thermal processing technique has been described for the growth of the silicon quantum dots (Si-QD) within microcrystalline silicon carbide (µc-SiC:H) dielectric thin films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) process. The nanocrystalline silicon grains (nc-Si) present in the as deposited films were initially enhanced by aluminium induced crystallization (AIC) method in vacuum at a temperature of T v = 525 • C. The samples were then stepwise annealed at different temperatures T a in air ambient. Analysis of the films by FTIR and XPS reveal a rearrangement of the µc-SiC:H network has taken place with a significant surface oxidation of the nc-Si domains upon annealing in air. The nc-Si grain size (D XRD ) as calculated from the XRD peak widths using Scherrer formula was found to decrease from 7 nm to 4 nm with increase in T a from 250 • C to 800 • C. A core shell like structure with the nc-Si as the core and the surface oxide layer as the shell can clearly describe the situation. The results indicate that with the increase of the annealing temperature in air the oxide shell layer becomes thicker and the nc-Si cores become smaller until their size reduced to the order of the Si-QDs. Quantum confinement effect due to the SiO covered nc-Si grains of size about 4 nm resulted in a photoluminescence peak due to the Si QDs with peak energy at 1.8 eV. C 2014 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

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