Browsing by Subject "Plasma synthesis"

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    Nonthemal plasma synthesis of indium phosphide nanocrystals and electrical properties of doped silicon nanocrystal films.
    (2010-02) Gresback, Ryan Gerard
    This thesis is concerning the plasma synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs). Two systems of nanocrystals were studied, indium phosphide and doped silicon. A new method of synthesis of InP NCs is presented. It represents a new route for the synthesis of high quality compound semiconductor NCs. Additionally the electronic properties of doped silicon NCs were studied as a function of the doping concentration. Indium phosphide nanocrystals (InP NCs) were synthesized using a nonthermal plasma. The NCs were synthesized using a simple capacitively coupled plasma where the precursors are flowed through a 3/8” quartz tube with two outer ring electrodes. The size of the NCs was primarily controlled through the residence time of the NCs in the plasma. Residence times of 2-10 ms lead to particles with mean sizes between ~2.5-4 nm with size distributions less than 25% of the mean particle size. The mass yield for this system was found to be up to 40 mg/hr. When a ZnS shell was grown around the InP NCs, size-tunable emission from the blue-green to the red was observed. Quantum yields as high as 15% were observed with this synthesis route. This route allows for synthesis of free-standing NCs that can be easily manipulated with colloidal based techniques or included in devices without stabilizing ligands. The electrical conductivity of phosphorus doped Si NCs was studied as a function of the doping concentration. Doped Si NCs with mean sizes of 8-13 nm were spun cast onto a substrate with pre-deposited aluminum electrodes. The spin cast process produces films with zero to several monolayers of NCs. The conductivity of the films varies continuously from 10-11 S/cm for intrinsic NCs to 10-1 S/cm for highly doped NCs. These results indicate that the dopants are electrically active. The interpretation of these results means that the electronic properties of NCs can be tuned in a similar fashion as bulk semiconductors by introducing dopants. The ability to successfully dope NCs can have broad impact on the ability to form semiconductor devices.