Bridging energy bands to the crystalline and amorphous states of Si QDs

• Published in: Faraday discussions Vol. 222; pp. 39 - 44
• Main Authors: Alessi, Bruno, Macias-Montero, Manuel, Maddi, Chiranjeevi, Maguire, Paul, Svrcek, Vladimir, Mariotti, Davide
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 19.06.2020
• Subjects: Collisional plasmas; Crystal structure; Crystallinity; Crystallization; Electronic properties; Emission analysis; Energy bands; Energy levels; Optical emission spectroscopy; Optical properties; Optoelectronics; Photovoltaic cells; Plasma; Quantum confinement; Quantum dots; Silicon; Solar cells
• ISSN: 1359-6640; 1364-5498
• DOI: 10.1039/c9fd00103d

The relationship between the crystallization process and opto-electronic properties of silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) synthesized by atmospheric pressure plasmas (APPs) is studied in this work. The synthesis of Si QDs is carried out by flowing silane as a gas precursor in a plasma confined to a submillimeter space. Experimental conditions are adjusted to propitiate the crystallization of the Si QDs and produce QDs with both amorphous and crystalline character. In all cases, the Si QDs present a well-defined mean particle size in the range of 1.5-5.5 nm. Si QDs present optical bandgaps between 2.3 eV and 2.5 eV, which are affected by quantum confinement. Plasma parameters evaluated using optical emission spectroscopy are then used as inputs for a collisional plasma model, whose calculations yield the surface temperature of the Si QDs within the plasma, justifying the crystallization behavior under certain experimental conditions. We measure the ultraviolet-visible optical properties and electronic properties through various techniques, build an energy level diagram for the valence electrons region as a function of the crystallinity of the QDs, and finally discuss the integration of these as active layers of all-inorganic solar cells. The relationship between crystallization process and opto-electronic properties of silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) synthesized by atmospheric pressure plasmas (APPs) is studied.