A Short Review and Present Status of ZnO Nanoparticle Formation by Ion Implantation Combined with Thermal Oxidation
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A Short Review and Present Status of ZnO Nanoparticle Formation by Ion Implantation Combined with Thermal Oxidation H. Amekura, O.A. Plaksin, N. Umeda, Y. Takeda, N. Kishimoto and Ch. Buchal1 National Institute for Materials Science, 3-13 Sakura, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0003, Japan 1 Institut fuer Schichten und Grenzflaechen (ISG1-IT), Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, D-52425, Juelich. Germany ABSTRACT Recently many groups have started studies of formation of zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle (NP) in transparent insulators, such as silica glass, sapphire, etc, using ion implantation techniques. In the early half of this article, we shortly review recent activities of ZnO NP formation using ion implantation combined with thermal oxidation. Some groups succeeded but the others did not. Even if they succeeded in the formation of ZnO nanostructures, one reported that they were in the shape of thin film and another reported the NP form. Based on our recent experimental results, we point out the importance of the oxidation temperature and the peculiar shapes and depth profiles of ZnO formed. INTRODUCTION Recently ZnO received much attention because this material is a wide-gap semiconductor with a large exciton binding energy of 60 meV, which stabilize the excitons even at room temperature [1]. Because of the concentrated oscillator strength to the exciton transitions, laser action is easily attainable even in nanostructures. In fact, laser action has been observed in many nanostructures of ZnO, e.g., nanowires [2], nanopencils [3], etc. Moreover, new lasing phenomena only characteristic in nanostructures, e.g., random laser [4], self-formed laser cavity [5], etc. have been observed. Nanostructures of ZnO are very attractive for light-emitting/laser applications and various attempts have been carried out to fabricate ZnO nanostructures of high-quality. One of the attempts is the ion implantation combined with thermal oxidation: In this method, Zn metal NPs are formed in transparent insulators such as silica glass (SiO2), sapphire (Al2O3), etc., by Zn ion implantation of several tens keV ~ two hundreds keV. Then the implanted samples are annealed in oxidizing atmosphere so that the Zn metal NPs are oxidized and transform to ZnO NPs. In these a few years, many groups have started the studies of ZnO nanostructure formation using ion implantation combined with thermal oxidation. However, some results look inconsistent each other between different groups. In this article, we review the recent history of ZnO nanostructure formation using ion implantation combined with thermal oxidation. Based on our recent experimental results [6,7], we point out the relationship between
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the oxidation temperature and the Zn-related products. Also we show the formation of ZnO NPs on the substrate surface, which are completely different morphology from those observed in metal NPs fabricated by ion implantation. A SHORT REVIEW OF RECENT STUDIES Table I summarizes a series of trials of the formation of ZnO nanostructures in
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