Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13(10), 12880-12889; doi:10.3390/ijms131012880
Article

Substrate Temperature Dependent Surface Morphology and Photoluminescence of Germanium Quantum Dots Grown by Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

Alireza Samavati 1 email, Zulkafli Othaman 1,* email, Sib Krishna Ghoshal 2 email, Mohammad Reza Dousti 2 email and Mohammed Rafiq Abdul Kadir 3 email
1 Ibn Sina Institute for Fundamental Science Studies, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor 81100, Malaysia 2 Advanced Optical Material Research Group, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor 81100, Malaysia 3 Medical Implant Technology Group, Faculty of Bioscience and Medical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor 81310, Malaysia
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 16 August 2012; in revised form: 19 September 2012 / Accepted: 21 September 2012 / Published: 9 October 2012
(This article belongs to the Section Material Sciences and Nanotechnology)
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Abstract: The visible luminescence from Ge nanoparticles and nanocrystallites has generated interest due to the feasibility of tuning band gap by controlling the sizes. Germanium (Ge) quantum dots (QDs) with average diameter ~16 to 8 nm are synthesized by radio frequency magnetron sputtering under different growth conditions. These QDs with narrow size distribution and high density, characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) are obtained under the optimal growth conditions of 400 °C substrate temperature, 100 W radio frequency powers and 10 Sccm Argon flow. The possibility of surface passivation and configuration of these dots are confirmed by elemental energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The room temperature strong visible photoluminescence (PL) from such QDs suggests their potential application in optoelectronics. The sample grown at 400 °C in particular, shows three PL peaks at around ~2.95 eV, 3.34 eV and 4.36 eV attributed to the interaction between Ge, GeOx manifesting the possibility of the formation of core-shell structures. A red shift of ~0.11 eV in the PL peak is observed with decreasing substrate temperature. We assert that our easy and economic method is suitable for the large-scale production of Ge QDs useful in optoelectronic devices.
Keywords: Ge quantum dots; visible photoluminescence; RMS roughness

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MDPI and ACS Style

Samavati, A.; Othaman, Z.; Ghoshal, S.K.; Dousti, M.R.; Kadir, M.R.A. Substrate Temperature Dependent Surface Morphology and Photoluminescence of Germanium Quantum Dots Grown by Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13, 12880-12889.

AMA Style

Samavati A, Othaman Z, Ghoshal SK, Dousti MR, Kadir MRA. Substrate Temperature Dependent Surface Morphology and Photoluminescence of Germanium Quantum Dots Grown by Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2012; 13(10):12880-12889.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Samavati, Alireza; Othaman, Zulkafli; Ghoshal, Sib Krishna; Dousti, Mohammad Reza; Kadir, Mohammed Rafiq Abdul. 2012. "Substrate Temperature Dependent Surface Morphology and Photoluminescence of Germanium Quantum Dots Grown by Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering." Int. J. Mol. Sci. 13, no. 10: 12880-12889.

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