The use of MACE technique on amorphous silicon-rich silicon nitride thin films for the formation of spherical silica nanoparticles

We present a method that employs the metal-assisted chemical etching technique and a subsequent NH 3 plasma treatment for obtaining silica nanoparticles (SNPs) uniformly distributed on an amorphous silicon-rich silicon nitride (SRN) film. These particles ranging from 50 to 300 nm are formed directly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials science 2019-12, Vol.54 (23), p.14296-14308
Main Authors: Muñoz-Rosas, A. L., Rodríguez-Gómez, A., Alonso-Huitrón, J. C., Qureshi, N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ammonia
Amorphous silicon
Ceramics
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemical composition
Chemical etching
Chemistry and Materials Science
Classical Mechanics
Crystallography and Scattering Methods
Flow velocity
Hydrogen peroxide
Materials Science
Nanoparticles
Optical measurement
Optoelectronics
Organic chemistry
Polymer Sciences
Silicon dioxide
Silicon nitride
Silicon tetrachloride
Solid Mechanics
Thickness
Thin films
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Summary:We present a method that employs the metal-assisted chemical etching technique and a subsequent NH 3 plasma treatment for obtaining silica nanoparticles (SNPs) uniformly distributed on an amorphous silicon-rich silicon nitride (SRN) film. These particles ranging from 50 to 300 nm are formed directly from the SRN films, and their density is related to the flow rate of the precursor gas (SiCl 4 ). We determined that the SNPs are a SiO x compound ( x  > 1) with amorphous structure. Furthermore, the chemical composition of the bulk of the remaining SRN film after the etching in a HF/H 2 O 2 -based solution and plasma treatment maintain the properties of a pristine one if the initial thickness of the film is large enough (≥ 1 µm). This method enables the formation of silica nanoparticles directly on a silicon-rich silicon nitride film that could have potential optoelectronic applications, implicit in the optical measurements.
ISSN:0022-2461
1573-4803
DOI:10.1007/s10853-019-03937-3