Selective Formation of Size-Controlled Silicon Nanocrystals by Photosynthesis in SiO Nanoparticle Thin Film

The SiO x thin film with a thickness of about 1 mum was formed on a GaAs substrate by bar-coating with the organic solution of the SiO x nanoparticles (~40 nm). The as-formed SiO x thin film consists of the SiO x nanoparticles; thus the thin film is macroscopically discontinuous and is referred to as a nanoparticle thin film. Although there were no silicon (Si) nanocrystals in the as-formed SiO x nanoparticle thin film, Si nanocrystals were observed by Raman scattering measurement after the thin film was exposed to the laser beam. The growth of Si nanocrystals by laser irradiation is referred to as photosynthesis. The photosynthesis of Si nanocrystals is found to be a self-limiting process. After the average size reaches a certain value, further increase of irradiation time or laser power does not increase the average size. The photosynthesis is similar to the thermal synthesis of Si nanocrystals from SiO x but much faster and low-temperature growth of Si nanocrystals from SiO x . Furthermore, the laser irradiation makes nanoparticles larger by merging. This suggests a possibility of low-temperature formation of a Si-nanocrystal array embedded in a SiO 2 thin film. Such a structure has many potential device applications