본 연구에서는 가속된 이온이 전기장이 걸려있는 freestanding 단결정 실리콘 나노 박막에 충돌했을 때 발생하는 열-전계 전자 방출 특성을 여러 전계 및 열적 조건 아래 체계적으로 분석하였다. 이온 충돌에 의한 열-전계 전자 방출은 쇼트키 효과 (schottky effect)의 선형영역의 특성에 의해 예측된 바와 같이 전계의 세기가 증가할수록 선형적으로 증가했으며, 이온 충돌에 의해 발생하는 열에너지의 제곱에 비례하는 특성을 보여주었다. 이러한 특성들은 실리콘 나노 박막의 질량 분석기용 이온 검출기로의 사용 가능성을 보여준다.

We investigated the nanostructural, chemical and optical properties of nc-Si:H films according to deposition conditions. Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition(PECVD) techniques were used to produce nc-Si:H thin films. The hydrogen dilution ratio in the precursors, [SiH4/H2], was fixed at 0.03; the substrate temperature was varied from room temperature to 600˚C. By raising the substrates temperature up to 400˚C, the nanocrystalite size was increased from ~2 to ~7 nm and the Si crystal volume fraction was varied from ~9 to ~45% to reach their maximum values. In high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM) images, Si nanocrystallites were observed and the crystallite size appeared to correspond to the crystal size values obtained by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and Raman Spectroscopy. The intensity of high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy(EELS) peaks at ~99.9 eV(Si L2,3 edge) was sensitively varied depending on the formation of Si nanocrystallites in the films. With increasing substrate temperatures, from room temperature to 600˚C, the optical band gap of the nc-Si:H films was decreased from 2.4 to 1.9 eV, and the relative fraction of Si-H bonds in the films was increased from 19.9 to 32.9%. The variation in the nanostructural as well as chemical features of the films with substrate temperature appears to be well related to the results of the differential scanning calorimeter measurements, in which heat-absorption started at a substrate temperature of 180˚C and the maximum peak was observed at ~370˚C.

In this study, we analyzed the effect of silicon oxynitride matrix on the optical properties of Au nanoparticles dispersed on composite film and explored the effectiveness of the silicon in fine tuning the refractive index of the composite film for applications in optical waveguide devices. The atomic fraction of nitrogen in SiOxNy films was controlled by varying the relative flow ratio of nitrogen gas in reactive sputtering and was evaluated optically using an effective medium theory with Bruggeman geometry consisting of a random mixture between SiO2 and Si3N4. The Au nanoparticles were embedded in the SiOxNy matrix by employing the alternating deposition technique and clearly showed an absorption peak due to the excitation of surface plasmon. With increasing nitrogen atomic fraction in the matrix, the surface plasmon resonance wavelength shifted to a longer wavelength (a red-shift) with an enhanced resonance absorption. These characteristics were interpreted using the Maxwell-Garnett effective medium theory. The formation of a guided mode in a slab waveguide consisting of 3 μm thick Au:SiOxNy nanocomposite film was confirmed at the telecommunication wavelength of 1550 nm by prism coupler method and compared with the case of using SiO2 matrix. The use of SiOxNy matrix provides an effective way of controlling the mode confinement while maintaining or even enhancing the surface plasmon resonance properties.