SF6 plasma etching of silicon nanocrystals

R. W. Liptak, B. Devetter, J. H. Thomas, U. Kortshagen, S. A. Campbell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

An SF6-based plasma has been employed to perform in-flight etching of silicon nanocrystals (Si-NCs) after they were synthesized in an SiH4-based plasma. The photoluminescence of the Si-NCs blue-shifts after etching, indicating an etching-induced size reduction of the Si-NCs. It is shown that both the SF6 plasma power and the flow rate can be utilized to control the etch rate (and thus the size reduction) of the Si-NCs. The SF6 etched Si-NCs show only low concentrations of residual impurities other than fluorine. Quantum yields as high as 50% have been observed from these SF6 etched Si-NCs despite oxidation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number035603
JournalNanotechnology
Volume20
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 21 2009

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