The Synthesization of Si Nanocrystals Embedded in HfO2 Matrix by Electron Beam co-Evaporation Technique

Silicon nanocrystals synthesized by electron beam co-evaporation (EBCE) of Si and HfO2 mixture are studied. HfO2 and Si powder are uniformly mixed together in certain proportion. The mixed Si & HfO2 powder is evaporated by electron beam evaporation technique. Then the SRO thin films are annealed at different temperatures at 2 hours in N2 ambient to synthesize Silicon nanocrystals. For the sample annealed at 1050 ° at 2 hours, silicon nanocrystals with different size between 3 nm to 5 nm, the mean diameter of 4.0 nm, and the density of 3×1012 cm-2 are evidently observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Then the Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectra arising from Silicon nanocrystals are further confirmed the above result. In addition, the samples annealed at 900 ° for 2 hours to 8 hours are carefully studied by Raman spectra. This way of preparing SRO thin films and Si NCs has unique advantage and is controllable and flexible