Atomic scale investigation of Si and Ce-rich nanoclusters in Ce-doped SiO1.5 thin films

Georges Beainy (1) , Jennifer Weimmerskirch-Aubatin (2) , Mathieu Stoffel (2) , Michel Vergnat (2) , Hervé Rinnert (2) , Philippe Pareige (1) , Etienne Talbot (1)

1 GPM - Groupe de physique des matériaux
2 IJL - Institut Jean Lamour

The optical properties and the nanoscale structure of Ce‐doped SiO1.5 thin films elaborated by evaporation were investigated by photoluminescence and atom probe tomography. Strong Ce‐related blue luminescence is observed on the 1100 °C annealed sample. Atom probe tomography experiments give evidence of the formation of a cerium silicate having a stoichiometry compatible with Ce2Si2O7. Moreover, we further observe the formation of pure Si nanocrystals (Si‐ncs) which results from the phase separation of the SiO1.5 film. No optical signal from Si‐ncs was observed at least for the 3% Ce‐doped SiO1.5 film considered in this study. We analyze the size distribution of both Si‐ncs and Ce2Si2O7 particles. Finally, the Si and Ce diffusion coefficients were estimated based on atom probe tomography characterizations

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Georges Beainy, Jennifer Weimmerskirch-Aubatin, Mathieu Stoffel, Michel Vergnat, Hervé Rinnert, et al.. Atomic scale investigation of Si and Ce-rich nanoclusters in Ce-doped SiO1.5 thin films. physica status solidi (c), 2015, 12 (12), pp.1313 - 1316. ⟨10.1002/pssc.201510081⟩. ⟨hal-01611700⟩