Christian Dufour

Room-temperature 1.54 μm photoluminescence from Er-doped Si-rich silica layers obtained by reactive magnetron sputtering

Er-doped Si-rich silica layers were obtained by reactive magnetron sputtering and both structural and room-temperature photoluminescence properties were investigated. The controlled introduction of hydrogen in the plasma was found to play a critical role in the microstructure and distribution of the Si nanograins formed after annealing. Concomitant density increase and size decrease of these nanograins mostly amorphous were noticed upon increasing the hydrogen partial pressure in the plasma. This was accompanied by a systematic enhancement of the Er emission indicating that both crystallized and amorphous silicon nanoparticles are similarly efficient sensitizers for Er emission. The lifetime of the latter was found as high as 5–6 ms.

Si nanoparticles in SiO2 An atomic scale observation for optimization of optical devices

Three-dimensional imaging of silicon nanoclusters array in silicon-rich silicon oxide layers was evidenced and studied. The atom probe tomography technique allows to give the composition of the nanoclusters and the composition of the interface with the silica matrix. These results give new insights for the understanding of the properties of Si-based photonic devices.

Silicon-rich SiO2 /SiO2 multilayers: A promising material for the third generation of solar cell

Si-rich-SiO 2 SRSO / SiO 2 multilayers MLs have been grown by reactive magnetron sputtering. The presence of silicon nanoclusters Si-ncls within the SRSO sublayer and annealing temperature influence optical absorption as well as photoluminescence. The optimized annealing temperature has been found to be 1100 ° C, which allows the recovery of defects and thus enhances photoluminescence. Four MLs with Si-ncl size ranging from 1.5 to 8 nm have been annealed using the optimized conditions and then studied by transmission measurements. Optical absorption has been modeled so that a size effect in the linear absorption coefficient in cm −1 has been evidenced and correlated with TEM observations. It is demonstrated that amorphous Si-ncl absorption is fourfold higher than that of crystalline Si-ncls.

Photochemical preparation of silver nanoparticles supported on zeolite crystals

A facile and rapid photochemical method for preparing supported silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) in a suspension of faujasite type (FAU) zeolite nanocrystals is described. Silver cations are introduced by ion exchange into the zeolite and subsequently irradiated with a Xe-Hg lamp (200 W) in the presence of a photoactive reducing agent (2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone). UV-vis characterization indicates that irradiation time and intensity (I0) influence significantly the amount of silver cations reduced. The full reduction of silver cations takes place after 60 s of a polychromatic irradiation, and a plasmon band of Ag-NPs appears at 380 nm. Transmission electron microscopy combined with theoretical calculation of the plasmon absorbance band using Mie theory shows that the Ag-NPs, stabilized in the micropores and on the external surface of the FAU zeolite nanocrystals, have an almost spheroidal shape with diameters of 0.75 and 1.12 nm, respectively. Ag-NPs, with a homogeneous distribution of size and morphology, embedded in a suspension of FAU zeolites are very stable (∼8 months), even without stabilizers or capping agents.

High-k Hf-based layers grown by RF magnetron sputtering

Structural and chemical properties of Hf-based layers fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering were studied by means of x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy versus the deposition parameters and annealing treatment. The deposition and post-deposition conditions allow us to control the temperature of the amorphous-crystalline phase transition of HfO(2)-based layers. It was found that silicon incorporation in an HfO(2) matrix plays the main role in the structural stability of the layers. It allows us not only to decrease the thickness of the film/substrate interfacial layer to 1 nm, but also to conserve the amorphous structure of the layers after an annealing treatment up to 900-1000 degrees C.

SiOx/SiNy multilayers for photovoltaic and photonic applications

Microstructural, electrical, and optical properties of undoped and Nd3+-doped SiOx/SiNy multilayers fabricated by reactive radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering have been investigated with regard to thermal treatment. This letter demonstrates the advantages of using SiNy as the alternating sublayer instead of SiO2. A high density of silicon nanoclusters of the order 1019 nc/cm3 is achieved in the SiOx sublayers. Enhanced conductivity, emission, and absorption are attained at low thermal budget, which are promising for photovoltaic applications. Furthermore, the enhancement of Nd3+ emission in these multilayers in comparison with the SiOx/SiO2 counterparts offers promising future photonic applications.PACS: 88.40.fh (Advanced materials development), 81.15.cd (Deposition by sputtering), 78.67.bf (Nanocrystals, nanoparticles, and nanoclusters).

MODIFICATION BY HIGH ENERGY ION IRRADIATION OF IRON-ALUMINA NANO-COMPOSITES

This work reports on the current observations by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of nano-composites irradiated by GeV heavy ions. The composite targets consist of nanometric Fe particles dispersed in a ceramic (Al2O3) powder. Large metal particles (∼ 30 nm diameter) are located over the alumina grain surface whereas smaller particles (∼ 10 nm) are directly epitaxied in the alumina grains. The TEM micrographs show that the surface distribution of the large particles and the orientation of the small Fe particles in the Al2O3 micrometer grains are changed by the irradiation. At high fluences, the grains of alumina are destroyed.

New Si-based multilayers for solar cell applications

In this article, we have fabricated and studied a new multilayer structure Si-SiO2/SiNxby reactive magnetron sputtering. The comparison between SiO2 and SiNxhost matrices in the optical properties of the multilayers is detailed. Structural analysis was made on the multilayer structures using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The effect of specific annealing treatments on the optical properties is studied and we report a higher visible luminescence with a control over the thermal budget when SiO2 is replaced by the SiNxmatrix. The latter seems to be a potential candidate to replace the most sought SiO2 host matrix.

Ion-shaping of embedded gold hollow nanoshells into vertically aligned prolate morphologies.

Ion beam shaping is a novel technique with which one can shape nano-structures that are embedded in a matrix, while simultaneously imposing their orientation in space. In this work, we demonstrate that the ion-shaping technique can be implemented successfully to engineer the morphology of hollow metallic spherical particles embedded within a silica matrix. The outer diameter of these particles ranges between 20 and 60 nm and their shell thickness between 3 and 14 nm. Samples have been irradiated with 74 MeV Kr ions at room temperature and for increasing fluences up to 3.8 × 1014 cm−2. In parallel, the experimental results have been theoretically simulated by using a three-dimensional code based on the thermal-spike model. These calculations show that the particles undergo a partial melting during the ion impact, and that the amount of molten phase is maximal when the impact is off-center, hitting only one hemisphere of the hollow nano-particle. We suggest a deformation scenario which differs from the one that is generally proposed for solid nano-particles. Finally, these functional materials can be seen as building blocks for the fabrication of nanodevices with really three-dimensional architecture.

Theoretical investigation of the more suitable rare earth to achieve high gain in waveguide based on silica containing silicon nanograins doped with either Nd3+ or Er3+ ions

We present a comparative study of the gain achievement in a waveguide whose active layer is constituted by a silica matrix containing silicon nanograins acting as sensitizer of either neodymium ions (Nd3+) or erbium ions (Er3+). By means of an auxiliary differential equation and finite difference time domain (ADE-FDTD) approach that we developed, we investigate the steady states regime of both rare earths ions and silicon nanograins levels populations as well as the electromagnetic field for different pumping powers ranging from 1 to 104 mW/mm2. Moreover, the achievable gain has been estimated in this pumping range. The Nd3+ doped waveguide shows a higher gross gain per unit length at 1064 nm (up to 30 dB/cm) than the one with Er3+ doped active layer at 1532 nm (up to 2 dB/cm). Taking into account the experimental background losses we demonstrate that a significant positive net gain can only be achieved with the Nd3+ doped waveguide.