Silicon Nanodot Layers for Photovoltaic Application: Size/Density Control and Electrical Properties
Fabrication of Si nanodot single layers under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions is achieved by decomposition and self-organized growth from thermally deposited non-stoichiometric SiO ( < 2) precursor layers provided with an ultrathin SiO capping layer due to phase separation upon appropriate in...
Saved in:
Published in | Zeitschrift für physikalische Chemie (Neue Folge) Vol. 228; no. 4; pp. 543 - 556 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
De Gruyter Oldenbourg
01.01.2014
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Fabrication of Si nanodot single layers under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV)
conditions is achieved by decomposition and self-organized growth from
thermally deposited non-stoichiometric SiO
(
< 2)
precursor layers provided with an ultrathin SiO
capping layer
due to phase separation upon appropriate in situ annealing. The
kinetics of the thermal decomposition of the constituting Si suboxides
(Si
,
= 0…4) into Si nanodots and the
surrounding SiO
matrix is analyzed in situ by X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as a function of the annealing
temperature. The maximum size and the density of the nanodots are
varied by adjusting the stoichiometric coefficient
and the layer
thickness. Thus, the electronic nanodot properties and the interlayer
transport properties can be controlled. For initial compositions (
ranging from 0.9 to 1.4) and layer thicknesses (3 to
10 nm), phase separation was completed at
850 ℃. The phase separation revealed by XPS is
directly correlated with electrical properties as derived from atomic
force microscopy measurements detecting surface potentials (KFM) and
local conductivity (CS-AFM) across individual nanodots. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0942-9352 2196-7156 |
DOI: | 10.1515/zpch-2014-0482 |