Rapid thermal annealing induced formation of Ge nanoparticles in ZnO thin films: A detailed SAXS study. (June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ceylan, Abdullah; Tatar Yildirim, Leyla; Ozcan, Sadan; Ismat Shah, S.
• Is Part Of: Materials science in semiconductor processing. Volume 34(2015:Jun.)
• Page Start: 8
• Page End: 13
• Publication Date: 2015-06
• Subjects: Ge nanoparticles -- ZnO thin film -- SAXS -- Sputtering; Semiconductors -- Periodicals; Integrated circuits -- Materials -- Periodicals; Semiconducteurs -- Périodiques; Circuits intégrés -- Matériaux -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 621.38152
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2015.02.013
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1369-8001

Abstract

Abstract: In this study, germanium nanoparticles (Ge-np) embedded ZnO multilayered thin films were produced on z-cut quartz and Si substrates by sequential r.f. sputtering of ZnO and d.c. sputtering of Ge targets followed by an ex-situ rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process performed at 600 °C for 30, 60, and 90 s. Evolution of Ge-np via an RTA process has been investigated in detail especially by using a small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that fcc diamond phase Ge-np were successfully formed in c -axis oriented ZnO host. Crystallite sizes of diamond phase Ge-np calculated by the Scherrer formula were in the range of 18–27 nm. Analysis of SAXS patterns revealed that optimum RTA time at 600 °C to form monodispersed Ge-np is 60 s. Moreover, 30 s RTA was inadequate for the complete crystallization and segregation of crystalline Ge-np; 90 s RTA turned out to be improving the crystallite size as well as deteriorating the isolation of Ge-np possibly by inter diffusion of Ge atoms back to ZnO host. These results suggest that RTA applied under certain conditions is a robust and scalable route to form monodispersed well crystallized Ge-np in ZnO multilayered thin films for various applications.