Published in
IOP Publishing, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 38(46), p. 385301
DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/46/38/385301
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Influence of RF-sputtering power on formation of vertically stacked Si1−xGexnanocrystals between ultra-thin amorphous Al2O3layers: structural and photoluminescence properties
,
M. Buljan,
S. Bernstorff,
N. P. Barradas,
N. Franco,
M. R. Correia,
A. G. Rolo,
S. J. Pennycook,
S. I. Molina ,
E. Alves,
A. Chahboun,
M. J. M. Gomes
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Abstract
In this work, we investigate the structural and photoluminescence (PL) properties of (SiGe+Al2O3)/Al2O3 multi-layer films with layer thicknesses in the range of a few nanometres. The films were prepared by magnetron sputtering deposition at room temperature followed by an annealing process to promote the formation of small SiGe nanocrystals (NCs) (∼3 to 5 nm) embedded between ultra-thin (∼6 nm thickness) Al2O3 layers. Our results show that the structural and compositional properties of the films can be tuned by changing the RF-power. It is found that nearly spherical and well confined isolated SiGe NCs (∼5 nm) are obtained for an RF-power value of 80 W. The PL properties of the films were studied and optical emission in the blue visible wavelength region was observed.