Size tunable visible and near-infrared photoluminescence from vertically etched silicon quantum dots

Corrugated etching techniques were used to fabricate size-tunable silicon quantum dots that luminesce under photoexcitation, tunable over the visible and near infrared. By using the fidelity of lithographic patterning and strain limited, self-terminating oxidation, uniform arrays of pillar containing stacked quantum dots as small as 2 nm were patterned. Furthermore, an array of pillars, with multiple similar sized quantum dots on each pillar, was fabricated and tested. The photoluminescence displayed a multiple, closely peaked emission spectra corresponding to quantum dots with a narrow size distribution. Similar structures can provide quantum confinement effects for future nanophotonic and nanoelectronic devices.