In situ formation of tin nanocrystals embedded in silicon nitride matrix

Shujuan Huang; Yong Heng So; Gavin Conibeer; Martin A. Green

doi:10.1063/1.3148262

In situ formation of tin nanocrystals embedded in silicon nitride matrix

Shujuan Huang^*, Yong Heng So, Gavin Conibeer, Martin A. Green

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Tin (Sn) nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in a silicon nitride (Si3N4) matrix have been fabricated in a cosputtering process employing low temperature (100 °C) substrate heating. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the formation of uniformly sized Sn NCs of 5.2±0.9 nm evenly distributed in the Si3N4 matrix. Both TEM and x-ray diffraction measurements showed that the Sn NCs adopted the semimetallic tetragonal β-Sn structure rather than the cubic semiconducting alpha-Sn structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the semimetallic state (Sn0) is the major component of Sn in the sample films. Our investigation demonstrates a pronounced effect of the substrate temperature on the formation of Sn NCs. The mechanism of in situ formation of Sn NCs is discussed. We suggest that the formation of uniformly sized Sn NCs is correlated with lowering the surface mobility of the nuclei due to the presence of the cosputtered Si3N4..

Original language	English
Article number	124303
Pages (from-to)	1-5
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Applied Physics
Volume	105
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3148262
Publication status	Published - 15 Jun 2009
Externally published	Yes

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title = "In situ formation of tin nanocrystals embedded in silicon nitride matrix",

abstract = "Tin (Sn) nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in a silicon nitride (Si3N4) matrix have been fabricated in a cosputtering process employing low temperature (100 °C) substrate heating. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the formation of uniformly sized Sn NCs of 5.2±0.9 nm evenly distributed in the Si3N4 matrix. Both TEM and x-ray diffraction measurements showed that the Sn NCs adopted the semimetallic tetragonal β-Sn structure rather than the cubic semiconducting alpha-Sn structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the semimetallic state (Sn0) is the major component of Sn in the sample films. Our investigation demonstrates a pronounced effect of the substrate temperature on the formation of Sn NCs. The mechanism of in situ formation of Sn NCs is discussed. We suggest that the formation of uniformly sized Sn NCs is correlated with lowering the surface mobility of the nuclei due to the presence of the cosputtered Si3N4.. ",

author = "Shujuan Huang and So, \{Yong Heng\} and Gavin Conibeer and Green, \{Martin A.\}",

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doi = "10.1063/1.3148262",

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journal = "Journal of Applied Physics",

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T1 - In situ formation of tin nanocrystals embedded in silicon nitride matrix

AU - Huang, Shujuan

AU - So, Yong Heng

AU - Conibeer, Gavin

AU - Green, Martin A.

PY - 2009/6/15

Y1 - 2009/6/15

N2 - Tin (Sn) nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in a silicon nitride (Si3N4) matrix have been fabricated in a cosputtering process employing low temperature (100 °C) substrate heating. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the formation of uniformly sized Sn NCs of 5.2±0.9 nm evenly distributed in the Si3N4 matrix. Both TEM and x-ray diffraction measurements showed that the Sn NCs adopted the semimetallic tetragonal β-Sn structure rather than the cubic semiconducting alpha-Sn structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the semimetallic state (Sn0) is the major component of Sn in the sample films. Our investigation demonstrates a pronounced effect of the substrate temperature on the formation of Sn NCs. The mechanism of in situ formation of Sn NCs is discussed. We suggest that the formation of uniformly sized Sn NCs is correlated with lowering the surface mobility of the nuclei due to the presence of the cosputtered Si3N4..

AB - Tin (Sn) nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in a silicon nitride (Si3N4) matrix have been fabricated in a cosputtering process employing low temperature (100 °C) substrate heating. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the formation of uniformly sized Sn NCs of 5.2±0.9 nm evenly distributed in the Si3N4 matrix. Both TEM and x-ray diffraction measurements showed that the Sn NCs adopted the semimetallic tetragonal β-Sn structure rather than the cubic semiconducting alpha-Sn structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the semimetallic state (Sn0) is the major component of Sn in the sample films. Our investigation demonstrates a pronounced effect of the substrate temperature on the formation of Sn NCs. The mechanism of in situ formation of Sn NCs is discussed. We suggest that the formation of uniformly sized Sn NCs is correlated with lowering the surface mobility of the nuclei due to the presence of the cosputtered Si3N4..

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U2 - 10.1063/1.3148262

DO - 10.1063/1.3148262

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VL - 105

SP - 1

EP - 5

JO - Journal of Applied Physics

JF - Journal of Applied Physics

IS - 12

M1 - 124303

ER -

In situ formation of tin nanocrystals embedded in silicon nitride matrix

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