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Quantum confinement in germanium nanocrystal thin films
Author(s) -
Holman Zachary C.,
Kortshagen Uwe R.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.201105031
Subject(s) - nanocrystal , germanium , quantum dot , materials science , absorption (acoustics) , absorption edge , thin film , potential well , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , band gap , semiconductor , composite material , silicon
Thin films of semiconductor nanocrystals with tunable optical properties are promising materials for new device applications, but progress has been slow for group IV materials. We report absorption measurements near the absorption edge of thin films of germanium nanocrystals synthesized in a plasma and impacted onto substrates. Band gaps extracted from the absorption data vary from the near‐bulk value of 0.73 eV for 9.0 nm nanocrystals to over 1.0 eV for 4.7 nm nanocrystals. These values are comparable to those reported for isolated, non‐interacting germanium nanocrystals, indicating minimal loss of quantum confinement upon dense film formation. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)