Size-dependent near-infrared photoluminescence spectra of Si nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 matrices

Electron Beam Induced Structural Modification of the Oxidized Silicon Micro-Clusters in ZnO Matrix

“…Umadapa Pal (1), Naoto Koshizaki (2), Shin-ya Terauchi (2) and Takeshi Sasaki (2) Introduction In recent years, the preparation and characterization of low dimensional composites made of group-IV elements, in particular, have attracted much interest due to their strong photoluminescence (PL) in the visible or near infrared (IR) region [1][2][3][4][5]. Though the preparation and behaviours of nano-and micro-crystals of Si and Ge have been reported by several workers [6][7][8][9][10][11], in most of the studies, Si02 has been used as the matrix material for those optical functional composites.…”

Mg clusters on MgO surfaces: characterization by MIES and electronic structure ab initio calculations

“…Moreover, the interaction between the metal, in particular clusters, and metal oxide substrates plays a key role in a number of technologically important applications including catalysis [3,4], metal±ceramic composites, gas sensors and microelectronics [5]. The study of the interaction between metal atoms and oxide surfaces is of importance in understanding phenomena like segregation of metal atoms at oxide surfaces [6,7], diusion of metal atoms on insulators [8], the formation of metal-induced point Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 157 (1999) 162±166 www.elsevier.nl/locate/nimb defects on oxides [2,9] and the formation of nanoparticles in semiconductors and insulators [10]. Surprisingly little is known about the electronic structure of metal/oxide interfaces, in particular about the type of the metal adsorption sites, the electronic character of the ®rst-layer metal species and regarding the nature of the interaction with nearest-neighbour metal atoms [5,11].…”

Effect of grain size and hydrogen passivation on the electrical properties of nanocrystalline silicon films

“…It is known that the electrical conductivity [4], as well as other physical properties relevant for many applications [5], is strongly influenced by the film's nanostructure, but from physical point of view, many questions remain unclear [6]. In this paper we describe the results of experiments performed in order to obtain new data concerning the influence of the nanostructure (namely, nanocrystal mean size and volume fraction of the crystalline phase) and chemical composition (hydrogen content) of nc-Si:H films produced by RF magnetron sputtering on their electrical properties.…”