The formation of Er-oxide nanoclusters in SiO${}_2$ thin films with excess Si

Abstract

The nucleation, distribution and composition of erbium embedded in a SiO${}_2$-Si layer were studied with High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), Energy Filtered TEM (EFTEM), Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). When the SiO${}_2$ layer contains small amounts of Si and Er, nanoclusters of Er-oxide are formed throughout the whole layer. Exposure of the oxide to an electron beam with 1.56*10${}^6$ electrons/nm${}^2$/sec. causes nanocluster growth. Initially this growth matches the Ostwald ripening model, but eventually it stagnates at a constant nanocluster radius of 2.39 nm.

References in corpus (2)

• An experimental study of charge distribution in crystalline and amorphous Si nanoclusters in thin silica films
• Characterization of amorphous and crystalline silicon nanoclusters in ultra thin silica layers

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Composition and structure of Pd nanoclusters in SiO${}_x$ thin film