SiGe layer thickness effect on the structural and optical properties of well-organized SiGe/SiO2 multilayers.

In this work, we report on the production of regular (SiGe/SiO2)20 multilayer structures by conventional RF-magnetron sputtering, at 350 °C. Transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, raman spectroscopy, and x-ray reflectometry measurements revealed that annealing at a temperature of 1000 °C leads to the formation of SiGe nanocrystals between SiO2 thin layers with good multilayer stability. Reducing the nominal SiGe layer thickness (t SiGe) from 3.5-2 nm results in a transition from continuous SiGe crystalline layer (t SiGe ∼ 3.5 nm) to layers consisting of isolated nanocrystals (t SiGe ∼ 2 nm). Namely, in the latter case, the presence of SiGe nanocrystals ∼3-8 nm in size, is observed. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was applied to determine the evolution of the onset in the effective optical absorption, as well as the dielectric function, in SiGe multilayers as a function of the SiGe thickness. A clear blue-shift in the optical absorption is observed for t SiGe ∼ 2 nm multilayer, as a consequence of the presence of isolated nanocrystals. Furthermore, the observed near infrared values of n = 2.8 and k = 1.5 are lower than those of bulk SiGe compounds, suggesting the presence of electronic confinement effects in the nanocrystals. The low temperature (70 K) photoluminescence measurements performed on annealed SiGe/SiO2 nanostructures show an emission band located between 0.7-0.9 eV associated with the development of interface states between the formed nanocrystals and surrounding amorphous matrix.

Size-controlled Ge nanostructures for enhanced Er³âº light emission.

The potential of Ge nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in Al2O3 with tunable effective optical bandgap values in the range of 1.0-3.3 eV to induce enhanced Er3+ light emission is investigated. We demonstrate nonresonant indirect excitation of the Er3+ ions mediated by the Ge NPs at room temperature. Efficient Er3+ light emission enhancement is obtained for Ge NPs with large effective optical bandgaps in the range of 1.85 to 2.8 eV. The coupled Ge NP-Er emission shows a negligible thermal quenching from 10 K to room temperature that is related to Er3+ de-excitation through thermally activated defect states.

Comments on "Surface plasmon resonance of metal nanoparticles sandwiched between dielectric layers: theoretical modeling".

The Maxwell-Garnett's and Toudert's methods detailed in Appl. Opt.48, 778 (2009)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.48.000778, based on the Maxwell-Garnett and Yamaguchi effective medium models, respectively, have been used for calculating the absorbance alpha of a (BaF(2)/Ag)(5)/BaF(2) nanocomposite thin film identical to the one presented in Fig. 1 of Appl. Opt.48, 778 (2009)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.48.000778]. We propose that the discrepancies observed in this reference between the alpha spectra calculated by the two methods are due to a non rigorous use of both effective medium models by the author and show that adequate calculations lead to superposed spectra.

Linear and third-order nonlinear optical responses of multilayered Ag:Si3N4 nanocomposites.

The linear and third-order nonlinear responses of tailored Si3N4/Ag/Si3N4 trilayers and (Si3N4/Ag)n/Si3N4 multilayers grown by alternating ion-beam sputtering have been studied by combining complementary characterization techniques such as transmission electron microscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry and degenerate four-wave mixing. The linear optical response dominated by the surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles has been measured over the whole visible range while the third-order nonlinear susceptibility has been probed at the surface plasmon resonance wavelength. Due to the weak in-plane interaction between Ag nanoparticles, the linear and nonlinear optical responses of the Si3N4/Ag/Si3N4 trilayers are mainly influenced by the size and shape of the nanoparticles. A maximum value of 1.1 x 10(-7) esu has been found at 635 nm for the effective third-order nonlinear susceptibility of the trilayer with the highest amount of silver. The linear optical response of the (Si3N4/Ag)n/Si3N4 multilayers is shown to be dominated by the surface plasmon resonance of isolated layers of weakly interacting nanoparticles at wavelengths shorter than 600 nm whereas a contribution due to vertical interactions has been shown for higher wavelengths. Below the vertical percolation threshold, their nonlinear optical response at the surface plasmon resonance wavelength is similar to the one of an isolated assembly of nanoparticles, and the effective third-order nonlinear susceptibility is slightly increased by decreasing the thickness of the Si3N4 spacer.

Quantitative modelling of the surface plasmon resonances of metal nanoclusters sandwiched between dielectric layers: the influence of nanocluster size, shape and organization.

The effects of size, shape and organization on the surface plasmon resonances of Ag nanoclusters sandwiched between Si(3)N(4) layers are studied by transmission electron microscopy and anisotropic spectroscopic ellipsometry. We present an easy-to-handle model that quantitatively links the nanostructure and optical response of the films, which are considered as dielectric/metal:dielectric/dielectric trilayers, with the central nanocomposite layer being an effective medium whose optical properties are described by an anisotropic dielectric tensor. The components of this tensor are calculated using a generalization of the Yamaguchi theory taking into account the real organization, size and shape distributions of ellipsoidal nanoclusters, whose electronic properties are assumed to reflect shape-dependent finite size effects. Using this model, it is shown that the optical response of the films in the visible range is dominated by the excitation of the surface plasmon resonance of the clusters along their in-plane long axis, while no surface plasmon resonance resulting from an excitation along their in-plane short axis can be observed due to damping effects. Moreover, the spectral position of this resonance appears to be mainly affected by the average shape of the clusters, and weakly by their size, their shape distribution and the electromagnetic interaction between them.