Formation and characterization of ion beam assisted nanosystems in silicon

Abstract

Even though silicon is optically inactive, the nanoscale particle structures (e.g. SiC) in Si or silica matrices are potential candidates for light emitting solid state device applications with higher operation temperatures. The synthesis of these nanostructures involves ion implantation and subsequent thermal annealing. The film thicknesses and sizes of the nanostructures can be controlled by ion energy, fluence, and annealing conditions. Particle accelerator based characterization was used at different stages of formation and analysis of these nanosystems in Si. Results will be presented using infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy.