Thin Ta/Ta oxide core-shell nanoparticle film size-dependent energy structure

Abstract

The paper presents the research of thin films, consisting of spherical monodisperse Ta particles. For different samples particle sizes varied from 1.3 nm to 5.8 nm. The films were also exposed to the atmosphere for oxidation, which resulted in formation of a core-shell particle structure, where core was metal and shell was Ta oxide (Ta2O5). Dependency of bandgap Egap and valence band offset (VBO) on particle size has been investigated for the structure by using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and reflected electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) methods. We have found, that Egap decreases from 4.72 eV to 4.47 eV whereas VBO decreases from 3.50 eV to 2.95 eV with increasing the particle size. A new method of a fine regulation of the electronic structure is suggested, particularly for the application in ultraviolet (UV) photodetector design for low-lying nuclear and electron transitions detection.