The nanocomposite SiO 2 (Si) films containing Si nanoclusters inside insulating SiO 2 matrix are promising for many nanoelectronics applications. The ion-plasma sputtering of Si in O 2 containing gas mixture and following thermal annealing have been used to form nanocomposite SiO 2 (Si) films. The structural properties of the obtained films have been studied using several methods. Among them, there were ellipsometry, IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and AFM. Transition of SiO x matrix into insulating SiO 2 matrix has been revealed by IR spectroscopy. The shift of the transmittance spectra toward high frequency region and the increase in their intensity have been observed. The existence of amorphous and nanocrystalline phases into SiO 2 (Si) films have been confirmed using Raman spectroscopy. Two material phases on the film surface, namely SiO 2 and Si, and surface density of silicon nanoclusters have been determined using AFM. It was shown that the size of silicon nanoclusters and their surface density depend on the level of enrichment with silicon of the initial SiO x film after ion-plasma sputtering and the temperature of subsequent annealing.

This work pertains to the method for modification of silicon (Si) wafer morphology by metal-assisted chemical etching (MacEtch) technique suitable for fabrication of antireflective Si surfaces. For this purpose, we made different Au catalyst patterns on the surface of Si substrate. This modification allowed to obtain the close-packed Au nanodrop (ND) pattern that generates the nanowires (NWs) and the well-separated Au NDs, which induce the nanopore (NP) formation. The antireflective properties of these structures in comparison with NWs produced by the conventional Ag-MacEtch method were analysed. The total surface reflectance of 1~7% for SiNWs and ~17% for SiNPs was observed over the entire Si-absorbing region. Moreover, SiNWs prepared by Au-MacEtch demonstrate better antireflective properties in contrast to those formed by conventional Ag-assisted chemical etching. So, the use of SiNWs produced by the modified Au-MacEtch method as the antireflective material is favored over those prepared by Ag-MacEtch due to their higher light absorption and lower reflectance. The possible reason of these findings is discussed.

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The processes of charge accumulation in the nonvolatile memory metal-oxidesilicon capacitors with gold nanoparticles floating gate formed by the pulsed laser deposition method are investigated. The regularities of formation of alumina films with gold nanoparticles are the result of their deposition from the back flow of low-energy particles from the erosion torch. With removing from the torch axis, sizes of gold particles and the film thickness decreased. When recording the capacitance-voltage curves, the capture of a negative charge was observed. It was shown that the concentration of gold nanoparticles in alumina matrix and the thickness of nanocomposite films remarkably influenced on the stored charge. The observed flat band voltage shift was in the range 1 to 14 V. To explain the peculiarities of charge storage in the composite films, the electron transport through them was investigated.