Silicon and germanium nanocrystals: properties and characterization

Abstract

SummaryGroup-IV nanocrystals have emerged as a promising group of materials that extends the realm of application of bulk diamond, silicon, germanium and related materials beyond their traditional boundaries. Over the last two decades of research, their potential for application in areas such as optoelectronic applications and memory devices has been progressively unraveled. Nevertheless, new challenges with no parallel in the respective bulk material counterparts have arisen. In this review, we consider what has been achieved and what are the current limitations with regard to growth, characterization and modeling of silicon and germanium nanocrystals and related materials.

GeSn Nanocrystals in GeSnSiO2 by Magnetron Sputtering for Short-Wave Infrared Detection

“…Nanocrystals (NCs) with high Sn concentration up to 42% were obtained using colloidal technique and iodide reaction, − by Sn precipitation in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown films, or by magneton-sputtering (MS) followed by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). , However, the low miscibility of Ge and Sn (<1% Sn) set constrains regarding the thermal budget, surface passivation, and processing. Annealing at temperatures up to 600 °C is possible without strong phase separation of β-Sn, but strongly depending on the Sn concentration. − From the optoelectronic point of view, decreasing recombination centers induced by the grain boundaries requires optimized surface passivation of NCs surface. ,, This can be obtained by embedding the NCs in an oxide matrix, a technique developed for Ge and Si NCs for photonic applications. ,,− This is the pathway adopted here for GeSn NCs.…”

Solid‐State Route for the Synthesis of Scalable, Luminescent Silicon and Germanium Nanocrystals

“…Various techniques have been developed to prepare Si and Ge NCs that can be classified as either physical or chemical methods. Physical methods such as ion implantation, vacuum evaporation, and sputtering require costly infrastructure and are impractical for making large quantities of materials . Chemical methods can be split into solid‐, solution‐, and gas‐phase methods.…”

“…Physical methods such as ion implantation, vacuum evaporation, and sputtering require costly infrastructure and are impractical for making large quantities of materials. [8][9][10][11] Chemical methods can be split into solid-, solution-, and gas-phase methods. Gas-phase methods such as laser and nonthermal plasma pyrolysis of SiH 4 and GeH 4 are scalable processes that yield quantum-confined Si and Ge NCs, respectively.…”

NaDev: An Annotated Corpus to Support Information Extraction from Research Papers on Nanocrystal Devices

“…Nanocrystal device development is an area of nanoscale research where nanoelectronic devices are developed for future nanoelectronic industrial applications using electronic materials such as semiconducting, insulating, and magnetic materials [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]. However, the process of nanocrystal device development is not well systematized, requiring both engineering knowledge and craftsmanship [11].…”