Related papers: Doping of Si nanoparticles: the effect of oxidatio…
In this work we aim at understanding the effect of n-type and p-type substitutional doping in the case of matrix-embedded and freestanding Si nanocrystals. By means of ab-initio calculations we identify the preferential positioning of the…
Results of a theoretical study of the electronic properties of (Si)Ge and (Ge)Si core/shell nanoparticles, homogeneous SiGe clusters, and Ge$|$Si clusters with an interphase separating the Si and Ge atoms are presented. In general, (Si)Ge…
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…
The addition of porosity to thermoelectric materials can significantly increase the figure of merit, ZT, by reducing the thermal conductivity. Unfortunately, porosity is also detrimental to the thermoelectric power factor in the numerator…
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…
We show that the optical and electronic properties of nanocrystalline silicon can be efficiently tuned using impurity doping. In particular, we give evidence, by means of ab-initio calculations, that by properly controlling the doping with…
The incorporation of phosphorus in silicon is studied by analyzing phosphorus delta-doped layers using a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry and Hall effect measurements. The samples are prepared by…
While Si is an effective insertion type anode for Li-ion batteries, crystalline Si has been shown to be unsuitable for Na and Mg storage due, in particular, to insufficient binding strength. It has recently been reported that Si nanowires…
(Al,Cr)2O3 coatings with Al/(Al+Cr) = 0.5 or Al = 70 at.%, doped with 0, 5 or 10 at.% Si, were deposited on hard metal and Si(100) substrates to elucidate the influence of Si on the resulting coatings. The chemical analysis of the coatings…
In the present theoretical work we have considered impurities, either boron or phosphorous, located at different substitutional sites in silicon quantum dots (Si-QDs) with diameters around 1.5\,nm, embedded in a SiO2 matrix. Formation…
Explicit molecular dynamics simulations were applied to a pair of amorphous silica nanoparticles of diameter 3.2 nm immersed in a background electrolyte. Mean forces acting between the pair of silica nanoparticles were extracted at four…
Novel solar cell materials consisting of Si nanoparticles embedded in SiO2 layers have been studied using positron annihilation spectroscopy in Doppler broadening mode, and photoluminescence. Two positron-trapping interface states are…
The ferroelectric properties of nanoscale silicon doped HfO$_2$ promise a multitude of applications ranging from ferroelectric memory to energy-related applications. The reason for the unexpected behavior has not been clearly proven and…
Large-volume deployment of Si-based Seebeck generators can be foreseen only if polycrystalline rather than single crystalline materials can be actually used. The aim of this study was therefore to verify whether polycrystalline Si films…
Control of dopants in silicon remains the most important approach to tailoring the properties of electronic materials for integrated circuits, with Group V impurities the most important n-type dopants. At the same time, silicon is finding…
Secondary Ions Mass Spectroscopy and Hall effect measurements were performed on boron doped silicon with concentration between 0.02 at.% and 12 at.%. Ultra-high boron doping was made by saturating the chemisorption sites of a Si wafer with…
Si nanoparticles (NPs) have been actively developed as a hyperpolarized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent with an imaging window close to one hour. However, the progress in the development of NPs has been hampered by the…
Understanding the interaction between dopants and semiconductor-oxide interfaces is an increasingly important concern in the drive to further miniaturize modern transistors. To this end, using a combination of first-principles…
The silicon vacancy ($V_{Si}$) in 4H-SiC at its cubic site (V2-center) has shown significant promise for quantum technologies, due to coherent spin states, the mature material system, and stable optical emission. In these SiC-based…
We report on the structural properties of highly B-doped silicon (> 2 at. %) realised by nanosecond laser doping. We investigate the crystalline quality, deformation and B distribution profile of the doped layer by STEM analysis followed by…