Nonthermal plasma synthesis of size-controlled, monodisperse, freestanding germanium nanocrystals

Journal Article · Mon Aug 27 04:00:00 EDT 2007 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2778356· OSTI ID:21016124

Gresback, Ryan; Holman, Zachary; Kortshagen, Uwe ^[1]

---

1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 111 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States)

Germanium nanocrystals may be of interest for a variety of electronic and optoelectronic applications including photovoltaics, primarily due to the tunability of their band gap from the infrared into the visible range of the spectrum. This letter discusses the synthesis of monodisperse germanium nanocrystals via a nonthermal plasma approach which allows for precise control of the nanocrystal size. Germanium crystals are synthesized from germanium tetrachloride and hydrogen entrained in an argon background gas. The crystal size can be varied between 4 and 50 nm by changing the residence times of crystals in the plasma between {approx}30 and 440 ms. Adjusting the plasma power enables one to synthesize fully amorphous or fully crystalline particles with otherwise similar properties.

• OSTI ID: 21016124
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 91; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ARGON
CRYSTAL GROWTH
CRYSTALS
GERMANIUM
HYDROGEN
NANOSTRUCTURES
PARTICLE SIZE
PARTICLES
PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT
PLASMA
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS