The Electrochemical Society, ECS Transactions, 15(66), p. 17-21, 2015
Springer Verlag, Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, 3(73), p. 666-672
DOI: 10.1007/s10971-015-3618-3
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Nanocomposite films were successfully grown by aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (CVD) in a single deposition step using a mixture of Indium Tin neodecanoate and ligand stabilised silicon nanocrystals. Samples were analysed by HRTEM and silicon nanocrystals with a density of 1.2 × 10 12 cm-2 were observed. From the reconstructed 3D tomogram, the averaged distance between the nearest nanoparticles is 8.3 nm and the 3D density of nanoparticles is 1.6 × 10 18 cm-3. An animation of the 3D reconstruction is supplied in the supporting information. These data show the versatility of aerosol assisted CVD in achieving a nanocomposite with such a density of silicon nanocrystals, of carefully controlled size and shape, within a polycrystalline host matrix. Therefore, meeting the density and size distribution requirements of particle inclusion in active nanocomposites for photovoltaic structures