Direct laser reshaping of nanostructures is a cost-effective and fast approach to create or tune various designs for nanophotonics. However, the narrow range of required laser parameters along with the lack of in-situ temperature control during the nanostructure reshaping process limits its reproducibility and performance. Here, we present an approach for direct laser nanostructure reshaping with simultaneous temperature control. We employ thermally sensitive Raman spectroscopy during local laser melting of silicon pillar arrays prepared by self-assembly microsphere lithography. Our approach allows establishing the reshaping threshold of an individual nanostructure, resulting in clean laser processing without overheating of the surrounding area.

Incorporation of Ge into Si1−xGex nanoparticles allows modification of their light-to-heat conversion and optical response, which is crucial for biosensing applications.

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The dual action of oxide-related defects in the visible and infrared emission of germanium (Ge) self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) is discussed. The Ge particles were fabricated by solid-state dewetting on a thin layer of SiO 2. Subsequent surface passivation by amorphous silicon was carried out for several samples. All samples were encapsulated by SiO 2. Atomic force microscopy analysis indicates a linear relationship between the size of QDs and the initial thickness of the amorphous Ge films. The crystallization of the QDs was evidenced by transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Photoluminescence measurements show that the main visible emission is blue-green centred around 520 nm. The luminescence attributed to the radiative recombination of quantum-confined excitons is only observed when the surface is in-situ passivated prior to the deposition of the oxide matrix. The results of this work are helpful for optimizing the performance of the optoelectronic devices based on the infrared emission of Ge nanocrystals.

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