Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol.321, No.1, 131-135, 2011
Hot-wire CVD of Ge nanoparticles on Si-etched silicon dioxide
Germanium nanoparticles are grown on SiO(2) by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition of GeH(4). Etching of the silica surface by low doses of Sift, (x=1, 2, 3) prior to Ge deposition is found to increase the nanoparticle density by up to an order of magnitude. This result is attributed to the creation of defects during the etching reaction in proportion to the flux that serve as nucleation sites for Ge particles. Mean particle sizes of similar to 5 nm and areal densities over 1 x 10(12) cm(-2) are obtained using these techniques. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.