Film-thickness-dependent conduction in ordered Si quantum dot arrays

Nanotechnology
K SuranaP Mur

Abstract

In recent years, silicon nanostructures have been investigated extensively for their potential use in photonic and photovoltaic applications. So far, for silicon quantum dots embedded in SiO(2), control over inter-dot distance and size has only been observed in multiple bilayer stacks of silicon-rich oxides and silicon dioxide. In this work, for the first time the fabrication of spatially well-ordered Si quantum dots (QDs) in SiO(2) is demonstrated, without using the multilayer approach. This ordered formation, confirmed with TEM micrographs, depends on the thickness of the initially deposited sub-stoichiometric silicon oxide film. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction confirms the crystallinity of the 5 nm QDs while photoluminescence shows augmented bandgap values. Low-temperature current-voltage measurements demonstrate film thickness and order-dependent conduction mechanisms, showing the transition from temperature-dependent conduction in randomly placed dots to temperature-independent tunnelling for geometrically ordered nanocrystals. Contrary to expectations from dielectric materials, significant conduction and photocarrier generation have been observed in our Si QDs embedded in SiO(2) demonstrating the possibility of formin...Continue Reading

References

Apr 18, 1997·Science·Z Zhang, M G Lagally
Dec 2, 2000·Nature·L PavesiF Priolo
Jul 13, 2004·Physical Review Letters·Dong YuPhilippe Guyot-Sionnest
Jul 26, 2008·Nature Nanotechnology·S GodefrooV V Moshchalkov

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