In this study, the size selective deposition of SiGe nanoislands is demonstrated to be possible only in Si nanopits using a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system. The depth of the etched Si substrate prepared by Ar+ plasma etching just before the deposition seems to be playing a role in the selectivity of keeping the SiGe nanoislands only inside the nanopits. We observed that, when the thickness of the deposited SiGe layer is around the mean pit depth, which is 4 nm in this case, Ge nucleation takes place selectively on the pre‐etched pits. Relatively larger deposition thickness (e.g., 40 nm) is demonstrated to suppress the preferential growth of the Ge nanocrystals (NCs)/Si NCs which are in return observed all along the surface of the Si substrate. On the other hand, surface migration is considered to play a role in very small depth (relatively more shallow pits) and yielding the unfilled Si nanopits (ca. 1.5 nm) whereas Ge NCs selectively nucleate only within those having larger depths (ca. 3 nm). Such site‐specific 3D controlled growth of nanoislands is shown for the deposition of different semiconductor nanocrystals on top of another for formation of nanodevices fabricated in a single nanopit.
Carbon is an essential element in human life and recently becoming technologically prominent due to the emerging field of “Carbononics”. We demonstrate organic carbon quantum dots (qdots) containing nitrile bonded (C≡N bond) d‐glucose‐like traces in various sizes obtained from wheat flour to be promising for imaging applications and to possess a relaxor ferroelectric property and an enhanced electrocatalytic activity that could reduce the cost of energy devices and simple to scale up for the commercialization. The secondary electron microscopy (SEM) imaging shows that the particle size of carbon qdots can be controlled via the sonication exposure time. Elemental analysis and vibrational spectroscopy results show that carbon qdots are sensitive to N2 gas in the atmosphere and could weaken its “carbogenic” property by making a stable C≡N bond at ambient atmosphere. Rietveld analysis and HR‐TEM studies demonstrate that the structure of the C qdots was found to fit best with an acentric primitive orthorhombic lattice. The laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) images show enhancement of the light emission when reducing the size and characteristic excitation wavelength‐dependent light emission of C qdots. The photoluminescence and UV‐Vis absorption spectroscopy techniques show surface dominant emission and absorption upon the nitrile bonding.
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