Research articles
ScienceAsia 51 (2023): 1-10 |doi:
10.2306/scienceasia1513-1874.2023.036
Germanium quantum dots prepared by direct annealing of
as-deposited amorphous films: Structure and optical
properties
Qijiang Shua, Linjing Yanga, Xicheng Zhanga, Fuhua Yanga,*, Pengru Huangb,*
ABSTRACT: We propose a method for annealing amorphous silicon-based germanium (Ge/Si) films to fabricate Ge
quantum dots (QDs). To this end, the evolution of the morphology and properties of a Ge-Si composite layer deposited
by magnetron sputtering at room temperature followed by annealing at different temperatures is studied with the aid
of tests such as atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscope , X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman, and
photoluminescence PL. The results show that as the annealing temperature increases from 450?C to 850?C, enhanced
atom migration, improved crystallization, thermal stress from expansion coefficient differences, and high-temperature
Ostwald ripening synergistically promote the formation of Ge QDs. The QD size grows continuously, while their
density first increases and then decreases. PL peaks of QDs are observed in those samples with high crystallinity,
high density, and small size of Ge QDs, in which the sample obtained by annealing at 650?C exhibits relatively optimal
morphological structure and optical properties. The method is expected to be applied to the multiple Ge-Si composite
layers stacked at room temperature to produce multilayer Ge/Si QDs, which provides a new idea to solve the problems
of low growth efficiency, severe atomic intermixing, and poor homogeneity of QDs in the multilayer structure in the
current conventional method, and our results lay a good foundation for this idea.
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| a |
Institute of Information, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming 650500 China |
| b |
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Information Materials and Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Structure and
Property for New Energy and Materials, School of Material Science & Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic
Technology, Guilin 541004 China |
* Corresponding author, E-mail: yangfuhua@ynucm.edu.cn, pengruhuang@guet.edu.cn
Received 23 Apr 2023, Accepted 3 Feb 2025
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