Tailoring the optical constants in single-crystal silicon with embedded silver nanostructures for advanced silicon photonics applications
- Department of Physics, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York 12222 (United States)
- College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York 12203 (United States)
- Department of Physics, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203 (United States)
Plasmonic effects associated with metal nanostructures are expected to hold the key to tailoring light emission/propagation and harvesting solar energy in materials including single crystal silicon which remains the backbone in the microelectronics and photovoltaics industries but unfortunately, lacks many functionalities needed for construction of advanced photonic and optoelectronics devices. Currently, silicon plasmonic structures are practically possible only in the configuration with metal nanoparticles or thin film arrays on a silicon surface. This does not enable one to exploit the full potential of plasmonics for optical engineering in silicon, because the plasmonic effects are dominant over a length of ∼50 nm, and the active device region typically lies below the surface much beyond this range. Here, we report on a novel method for the formation of silver nanoparticles embedded within a silicon crystal through metal gettering from a silver thin film deposited at the surface to nanocavities within the Si created by hydrogen ion implantation. The refractive index of the Ag-nanostructured layer is found to be 3–10% lower or higher than that of silicon for wavelengths below or beyond ∼815–900 nm, respectively. Around this wavelength range, the optical extinction values increase by a factor of 10–100 as opposed to the pure silicon case. Increasing the amount of gettered silver leads to an increased extinction as well as a redshift in wavelength position for the resonance. This resonance is attributed to the surface plasmon excitation of the resultant silver nanoparticles in silicon. Additionally, we show that the profiles for optical constants in silicon can be tailored by varying the position and number of nanocavity layers. Such silicon crystals with embedded metal nanostructures would offer novel functional base structures for applications in silicon photonics, optoelectronics, photovoltaics, and plasmonics.
- OSTI ID:
- 22399330
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
EXCITATION
HYDROGEN IONS
LAYERS
MONOCRYSTALS
NANOPARTICLES
NANOSTRUCTURES
OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES
PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT
PLASMONS
RED SHIFT
REFRACTIVE INDEX
RESONANCE
SILICON
SILVER
SURFACES
THIN FILMS
VISIBLE RADIATION