The Study on Microstructural and Optical Properties of Nanocrystalline Germanium Films

Abstract

The germanium film and Ge/Si multilayer structure were fabricated by magnetron sputtering technique on silicon substrate at temperatures of 500°C. Raman scattering spectroscopy measurements reveal that the nanocrystalline Ge occurs in both kinds of samples. Furthermore, from the atomic force microscopy (AFM) results, it is found that the grain size as well as spatially ordering distribution of the nc-Ge can be modulated by the Ge/Si multilayer structure. The room temperature photoluminescence was also observed in the samples. However, compared with that from the nc-Ge film, the intensity of PL from the nc-Ge/a-Si multilayer film becomes weaker, which is attributed to its lower volume fraction of crystallized component.