Effect of Implantation Dose and Annealing Time on the Formation of Si Nanocrystals Embedded in Thermal Oxide

Abstract

AbstractPhotoluminescence (PL) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) are employed to study the Si nanocrystals formed in the thermal oxide by Si+ implantation. PL results estimate the size of nanocrystals and the concentration of Pb centers in the Si-SiO2 nanocrystal-matrix interfaces. It is shown that the size of Si nanocrystals increase with implantation dose. Increasing the dose from 1×1016 to 1×1017 Si+/cm2 shifts the size of nanocrystals from ~2 nm to ~3.5nm, while prolonging the annealing time from 1h to 2h has no effect on the position of PL peak. P and Ar implantations into the SiO2 films are also investigated to suggested that the PL peak is due to implant induced chemical changes rather than implant induced damage. XPS analysis shows that the concentration of Si nanocrystals increases with Si implantation dose. Research on the annealing dependence of the forming of Si nanocrystals suggests that 1000°C annealing produces larger amount of Si nanocrystals than 1100°C annealing.