Formation of silicon nanocrystals in multilayer nanoperiodic a-SiOx/insulator structures from the results of synchrotron investigations

Abstract

The problem of the efficiency of the controllable formation of arrays of silicon nanoparticles is studied on the basis of detailed investigations of the electronic structure of multilayer nanoperiodic a-SiO_x/SiO₂, a-SiO_x/Аl₂О₃, and a-SiO_x/ZrO₂ compounds. Using synchrotron radiation and the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy technique, a modification is revealed for the investigated structures under the effect of high-temperature annealing at the highest temperature of 1100°C; this modification is attributed to the formation of silicon nanocrystals in the layers of photoluminescent multilayer structures.