Size controlled synthesis of Ge nanocrystals in SiO2 at temperatures below 400 °C using magnetron sputtering

A simple and silicon process-compatible technique is reported for the synthesis of Ge nanocrystals (Ge-ncs) at low temperatures below 400 degrees C, which is much lower than the typical growth temperatures. The Ge-ncs were found to form only within a temperature window between 350 and 420 degrees C. The underlying mechanism has been explained by a competitive process between Volmer-Weber growth and oxidation reaction. We further implemented this technique in the fabrication of multilayered Ge-ncs which exhibited controllable crystallite size with high crystallization quality. The low temperature technique developed in this work would allow production of Ge-ncs and relative devices on low cost substrates, such as glass. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3457864]