Effect of nucleation parameters of Ge Quantum Dots grown over silicon oxide by LPCVD

Abstract

Germanium quantum dots (Ge-QD) were grown by Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) on Si nucleus previously grown on 3 nm thick SiO2 ultra thin film. Samples were analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). We report the analysis of the influence of the nucleation parameters on size and spatial distribution of Ge-QD. AFM images show a Ge-QD density of around 3.6×1010 cm-2, with an 11 nm mean size and 2.9 nm height. Finally, HRTEM investigation shows that the Ge-QD have a crystalline structure, i.e., they are nanocrystals.