Related papers: Size, oxidation, and strain in small Si/SiO2 nanoc…
We compare, through first-principles pseudopotential calculations, the structural, electronic and optical properties of different size silicon nanoclusters embedded in a SiO2 crystalline or amorphous matrix, with that of free-standing,…
In recent years many experiments have demonstrated the possibility to achieve efficient photoluminescence from Si/SiO2 nanocrystals. While it is widely known that only a minor portions of the nanocrystals in the samples contribute to the…
The case study of a 32-atoms Si nanocrystallite (NC) embedded in a SiO2 matrix, both crystalline and amorphous, or free-standing with different conditions of passivation and strain is analyzed through ab-initio approaches. The Si32/SiO2…
The outstanding demonstration of quantum confinement in Si nanocrystals (Si NC) in a SiC matrix requires the fabrication of Si NC with a narrow size distribution. It is understood without controversy that this fabrication is a difficult…
The electronic properties of hydrogenated, spherical, Si/Ge and Ge/Si core-shell nanocrystals with a diameter ranging from 1.8 to 4.0 nm are studied within Density Functional Theory. Effects induced by quantum confinement and strain on the…
Several models of oxygenated and hydrogenated surfaces of Si quantum wells and Si nanocrystals of variable shapes have been constructed in order to assess curvature effects on energy gaps due to the three Si-suboxides. Si-suboxides in…
Silicon nanocrystals (SiNCs) have been under active investigation in the last decades and have been considered as a promising candidate for many optoelectronic applications including highly-efficient solar cells. Some of the fundamental…
Kinetic 3D lattice Monte Carlo studies are presented on Si nanocrystal (NC) formation by phase separation in 1 keV Si implanted thin SiO2 films. The simulation start from Si depth profiles calculated using the dynamic, high-fluence binary…
Binary collision simulations of high-fluence 1 keV Si ion implantation into 8 nm thick SiO2 films on (001)Si were combined with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of Si nanocrystal (NC) formation by phase separation during annealing. For…
Si nanocrystals have been extensively studied because of their novel properties and their potential applications in electronic, optoelectronic, photovoltaic, thermoelectric and biological devices. These new properties are achieved through…
Demonstrating the quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) in silicon nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in oxide has been rather elusive, unlike the other materials. Here, the recent experimental data from ion-implanted Si NCs is unambiguously…
Strain has a crucial effect on the optical and electronic properties of nanostructures. We calculate the atomistic strain distribution in silicon nanocrystals up to a diameter of 3.2 nm embedded in an amorphous silicon dioxide matrix. A…
We report the transport characteristics of both electrons and holes through narrow constricted crystalline Si "wall-like" long-channels that were surrounded by a thermally grown SiO2 layer. Importantly, as a result of the existence of fixed…
Third-order bound-charge electronic nonlinearities of Si nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in a wide band-gap matrix representing silica are theoretically studied using an atomistic pseudopotential approach. Nonlinear refractive index, two-photon…
Embedded Si and Ge nanocrystals (NCs) in wide band-gap matrices are studied theoretically using an atomistic pseudopotential approach. From small clusters to large NCs containing on the order of several thousand atoms are considered.…
In most of the realistic ab initio and model calculations which have appeared on the emission of light from Si nanocrystals, the role of surface oxygen has been usually ignored, underestimated or completely ruled out. We investigate…
On the basis of density functional calculations and using Bader's atom in molecule theory, this article presents quantitative microscopic analyses on the bonding properties of amorphous silicon (a-Si) which could reflect in the observable…
The atomic and electronic structure of a set of proposed thin (1.6 nm in diameter) silicon/silica quantum nanodots and nanowires with narrow interface, as well as parent metastable silicon structures (1.2 nm in diameter), was studied in…
Intrinsic properties of a compound (e.g., electronic structure, crystallographic structure, optical and magnetic properties) define notably its chemical and physical behavior. In the case of nanomaterials, these fundamental properties…
Silicon nanocrystals with diameters between 1 and 3 nm and surfaces passivated by chlorine or a mixture of chlorine and hydrogen were modeled using density functional theory, and their properties compared with those of fully hydrogenated…