Germanium quantum dots formed by oxidation of SiGe alloys

Abstract

We report the investigation on the oxidation behavior of Si1-xGex alloys (x=0.05, 0.15, and 0.25). In the PL spectra of Germanium quantum dots formed by the oxidation of Si1-xGex substrate, at high oxidation temperature (800℃—1000℃) an emission band from 550nm to 720nm would originate from the diameter distribution of germanium nanoparticles (Ge clusters diameter: 3nm—4nm); and at low oxidation temperature (400℃—600℃) with Laser beam radiation, there is an emission band from 650nm to 900nm which may have come from the germanium clusters (diameter: 4nm—5nm). It is clearly seen that there are several peaks at 572nm, 620nm, 671nm, 724nm, 769nm, 810nm and 861nm wavelengths along the emission band, which are correlated to the quantum confinement effect with 3.32nm, 3.54nm, 3.76nm, 3.98nm, 4.17nm, 4.35nm and 4.62nm diameters of the germanium clusters, respectively. The simulation result with MC method demonstrates that the germanium clusters of the above diameters are more stable under the above conditions. A quantum confinement model has been set up, and calculations with the UHFR method and the quantum confinement analysis have been proposed to explain the PL spectra.