Controlled Growth, Microstructure, and Properties of Functional Si Quantum Dot Films via Plasma Chemistry and Activated Radicals

Abstract

Control of plasma and radical generation and associated energy deposition near the growing thin films are still the main challenges in materials fabrication in the plasma-assisted deposition of Si quantum dot (QD) thin film. To control and enhance the material’s performance concerning film properties and application durability, we prepare 2.6 nm sized Si QDs with a fully ordered structure and entrapped them in amorphous silicon nitride using advanced dual frequency capacitively coupled plasmas. Raman and XRD analyses consistent with the high-resolution transmission electron micrographs reveal that the QD size can be controlled and altered from ∼2.6 to 4.0 nm simply by changing the operating pressure, which affects the film’s crystallinity in a broad range from 60% to 72% and the resulting microstructure. Further, a broad visible range ∼ 1.8–3.0 eV photoluminescence, with intense intensity and narrow to broad widths, is observed from Si QDs films. It is also seen that the observed photoluminescence feature...