Quantum Size Effect Silicon Structures via Molecularly Self-Assembled Hybrid Templates
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Quantum Size Effect Silicon Structures via Molecularly Self-Assembled Hybrid Templates Elena A. Guliants1, Moises A. Carreon2, Don C. Abeysinghe1, Chunhai Ji3, Wayne A. Anderson3, and Vadim V. Guliants2 1 Taitech, Inc., AMC PO Box 33630, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433-0630 2 University of Cincinnati, Department of Chemical Engineering, Cincinnati, OH 45221 3 State University of New York at Buffalo, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Buffalo, NY 14260 ABSTRACT A novel approach for the synthesis of advanced functional inorganic materials with atomic-scale control over the size of periodic features on the sub-30 nm scale is presented. The key innovative aspect of this technique is the direct, bottom-up formation of a two-dimensional periodic array of spatially separated nanostructures in a self-organized thin-film porous template. This thin-film template is fabricated via biologically inspired hierarchical self-assembly of organic surfactant molecules in the presence of inorganic charged silicate species. The removal of organic molecules from such an organic/inorganic hybrid system creates a periodic array of pore channels of ~3-30 nm diameter inside the thin-film silica template. This porous template is employed as a shadow mask to directly grow various functional nanostructures inside the confined environment of the periodic pore arrays. In the present study, silicon nanostructures were grown inside the templates by both chemical and physical (sputtering) vapor deposition. The quantum size effect was clearly pronounced in the room temperature photoluminescence spectra of the samples prepared by sputtering from a Si target, which makes the approach highly promising for the fabrication of nanoscale optoelectronic devices. INTRODUCTION Recent scientific achievements in the field of nanofabrication have vividly demonstrated that the preparation methodologies of spatially separated functional nanostructures for continuously emerging optoelectronic quantum size effect devices can benefit from the close interdisciplinary collaboration between electrical, chemical, and materials science engineers. With conventional lithographic techniques approaching their logical technical limit in resolution and/or output, chemical methods for the synthesis of nanostructured materials become even more important and show the strong potential to close the technological gaps in the nanoelectronic industry. Application of chemical synthetic methods to the production of mesoporous templates for the fabrication of functional semiconductor nanostructures seems especially promising in the near-term. The M41S family of mesoporous silica materials consist of hexagonal and cubic arrays of two- and three-dimensional channels of uniform mesopores with pore diameters in the 2.5-35 nm range [1]. The ordered periodic nanostructures of these mesoporous oxides suggest that they may serve as suitable hosts for the rational design of materials which exhibit the quantum size effect. Two methodologies have been developed to transport precursor
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