Photoluminescence spectroscopy and transport electrical measurements reveal the quantized features of Si nanocrystals embedded in an ultra thin SiO2 layer

In this paper, we have investigated the quantized charging features revealed by nanometer scale devices containing a 2D array of Si nanoparticles (nps) embedded into a SiO2 layer. The Si nps were synthesized by ultra low energy ion implantation and annealing under slightly oxidizing ambient. The structural characteristics of the material (oxide thicknesses, nps size and density) have been studied by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Energy Filtered TEM (EFTEM). Moreover, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and electrical I(V) measurements using a MOS capacitor addressing only a few nps have been performed at room temperature. It is observed that, as the oxidizing annealing temperature increases, the nps size decreases and the oxide quality is restored. These features appear on the PL spectra as a blue shift of the PL red band linked to quantum confinement into nps and on the I(V) characteristics as an increase of the voltage peak width and a decrease of the main current background. (c) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.