Quantum Confinement in Si and Ge Nanostructures

Eric G. Barbagiovanni, David J. Lockwood, Peter J. Simpson, Lyudmila V. Goncharova

Published 2011-11-08, updated 2012-01-02Version 2

We apply perturbative effective mass theory as a broadly applicable theoretical model for quantum confinement (QC) in all Si and Ge nanostructures including quantum wells (QWs), wires (Q-wires) and dots (QDs). Within the limits of strong, medium, and weak QC, valence and conduction band edge energy levels (VBM and CBM) were calculated as a function of QD diameters, QW thicknesses and Q-wire diameters. Crystalline and amorphous quantum systems were considered separately. Calculated band edge levels with strong, medium and weak QC models were compared with experimental VBM and CBM reported from X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) or photoluminescence (PL). Experimentally, the dimensions of the nanostructures were determined directly, by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), or indirectly, by x-ray diffraction (XRD) or by XPS. We found that crystalline materials are best described by a medium confinement model, while amorphous materials exhibit strong confinement regardless of the dimensionality of the system. Our results indicate that spatial delocalization of the hole in amorphous versus crystalline nanostructures is the important parameter determining the magnitude of the band gap expansion, or the strength of the quantum confinement. In addition, the effective masses of the electron and hole are discussed as a function of crystallinity and spatial confinement.