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Endotaxial Growth Mechanisms of Sn Quantum Dots in Si Matrix

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

P. Möck ,
Y. Lei ,
T. Topuria ,
N.D. Browning ,
R. Ragan ,
K.S. Min  and
H.A. Atwater
P. Möck
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751, pmoeck@pdx.edu
Y. Lei
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607-7059
T. Topuria
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607-7059
N.D. Browning
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607-7059 Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616; and National Center for Electron Microscopy, MS 72-150, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
R. Ragan
Affiliation:
Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, MS 128-95, Pasadena, CA 91125
K.S. Min
Affiliation:
Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, MS 128-95, Pasadena, CA 91125
H.A. Atwater
Affiliation:
Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, MS 128-95, Pasadena, CA 91125
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Abstract

Two distinct mechanisms for the endotaxial growth of quantum dots in the Sn/Si system were observed by means of analytical transmission electron microcopy. Both mechanisms operate simultaneously during temperature and growth rate modulated molecular beam epitaxy combined with ex situ thermal treatments. One of the mechanisms involves the creation of voids in Si, which are subsequently filled by Sn, resulting in quantum dots that consist of pure α-Sn. The other mechanism involves phase separation and leads to substitutional solid solution quantum dots with a higher Sn content than the predecessor quantum well structures possess. In both cases, the resultant quantum dots possess the diamond structure and the shape of a tetrakaidecahedron. (Sn,Si) precipitates that are several times larger than the typical (Sn,Si) quantum dot possess an essentially octahedral shape.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 770: Symposium I – Optoelectronics of Group-IV-Based Materials , 2003 , I1.7
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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