Silicon nanocrystals in carbide matrix

Summonte, C.; Allegrezza, M.; Bellettato, M.; Liscio, Fabiola; Canino, Mariaconcetta; Desalvo, A.; López-Vidrier, J.; Hernández, S.; López‐Conesa, Lluís; Estradé, S.; Peiró, F.; Garrido, B.; Löper, P.; Schnabel, Manuel; Janz, S.; Guerra, Roberto; Ossicini, Stefano

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2014.05.003

Cited by 34 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Consequently, precise control of Si NC size and separation is not required, and as this study and other works [11,12,14] show that control over both is extremely difficult to obtain with the ML approach in the Si NC/SiC system, it follows that SRC SL might be more effective for optimising the optoelectronic properties of SiC with embedded Si NC for Si NC-based devices. The thickness of SL films need not be as precisely controlled as the thickness of sublayers in an ML, enabling faster film deposition and significantly reducing the cost of producing Si NC/SiC devices.…”

Section: Page 23 Of 27mentioning

confidence: 75%

“…The onset of crystallization in the SiC sublayers causes stress in the layer because the lattice constants a of SiC and Si are quite different (a SiC = 4.3596 Å, a Si = 5.431 Å). We consider this stress to hinder Si crystallization, as predicted by the calculations of Summonte et al [12].…”

Section: Spectrophotometry Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A small band offset increases the tunneling probability from one Si NC to the other and hence the conductivity of the material, making transport less sensitive to variations in NC separation [7,8]. Although material quality has improved in recent years [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16], the recently presented first all-Si tandem solar cell with a Si NC top cell absorber shows low efficiency and no clear evidence of quantum confinement [17]. Therefore, further investigation of Si NC in SiC is necessary and is the topic of this work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structural and optical properties of silicon nanocrystals embedded in silicon carbide: Comparison of single layers and multilayer structures

Weiss

Schnabel

Reichert

et al. 2015

Applied Surface Science

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The outstanding demonstration of quantum confinement in Si nanocrystals (Si NC) in a SiC matrix requires the fabrication of Si NC with a narrow size distribution. It is understood without controversy that this fabrication is a difficult exercise and that a multilayer (ML) structure is suitable for such fabrication only in a narrow parameter range. This parameter range is sought by varying both the stoichiometric SiC barrier thickness and the Si-rich SiC well thickness between 3 and 9 nm and comparing them to single layers (SL). The samples processed for this investigation were deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and subsequently subjected to thermal annealing at 1000-1100 degrees C for crystal formation. Bulk information about the entire sample area and depth were obtained by structural and optical characterization methods: information about the mean Si NC size was determined from grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) measurements. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was applied to gain insight into the structure of the Si-C network, and spectrophotometry measurements were performed to investigate the absorption coefficient and to estimate the bandgap E-04. All measurements showed that the influence of the ML structure on the Si NC size, on the Si-C network and on the absorption properties is subordinate to the influence of the overall Si content in the samples, which we identified as the key parameter for the structural and optical properties. We attribute this behavior to interdiffusion of the barrier and well layers. Because the produced Si NC are within the target size range of 2-4 nm for all layer thickness variations, we propose to use the Si content to adjust the Si NC size in future experiments

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Section: Page 23 Of 27mentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Spectrophotometry Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structural and optical properties of silicon nanocrystals embedded in silicon carbide: Comparison of single layers and multilayer structures

Weiss

Schnabel

Reichert

et al. 2015

Applied Surface Science

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“…In particular, limited information exists about the electronic properties of the system. The Si NCs/SiC system is characterized by the presence of grain boundaries and residual Si and SiC amorphous phases resulting from the Si NCs formation process, which has been shown to be dominated by the high Si/SiC interface energy [5]. In view of the device applications, it is therefore crucial to establish the role of such structural defects in determining the electronic properties of the material.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In view of the device applications, it is therefore crucial to establish the role of such structural defects in determining the electronic properties of the material. Few experimental studies on Si NCs/SiC films exist [5][6][7][8][9][10][11], and the electrical properties of such a material are not yet completely clarified.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%