Doped
and alloyed germanium nanocrystals (Ge NCs) are potential
candidates for a variety of applications such as photovoltaics and
near IR detectors. Recently, bismuth (Bi) as an n-type group 15 element was shown to be successfully and kinetically
doped into Ge NCs through a microwave-assisted solution-based synthesis,
although Bi is thermodynamically insoluble in bulk crystalline Ge.
To expand the composition manipulation of Ge NCs, another more common n-type group 15 element for semiconductors, antimony (Sb),
is investigated. Oleylamine (OAm)- and OAm/trioctylphosphine (TOP)-capped
Sb-doped Ge NCs have been synthesized by the microwave-assisted solution
reaction of GeI2 with SbI3. Passivating the
Ge surface with a binary ligand system of OAm/TOP results in formation
of consistently larger NCs compared to OAm alone. The TOP coordination
on the Ge surface is confirmed by 31P NMR and SEM-EDS.
The lattice parameter of Ge NCs increases with increasing Sb concentration
(0.00–2.0 mol %), consistent with incorporation of Sb. An increase
in the NC diameter with higher content of SbI3 in the reaction
is shown by TEM. XPS and EDS confirm the presence of Sb before and
after removal of surface ligands with hydrazine and recapping the
Ge NC surface with dodecanethiol (DDT). EXAFS analysis suggests that
Sb resides within the NCs on highly distorted sites next to a Ge vacancy
as well as on the crystallite surface. High Urbach energies obtained
from photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS) of the films prepared
from pristine Ge NC and Sb-doped Ge NCs indicate high levels of disorder,
in agreement with EXAFS data. Electrical measurements on TiO2–NC electron- and hole-only devices show an increase in hole
conduction, suggesting that the Sb-vacancy defects are behaving as
a p-type dopant in the Ge NCs, consistent with the
vacancy model derived from the EXAFS results.