Influence of CrSi2 nanocrystals on the electrical properties of Au/Si - p/CrSi2 NCs/Si(111) - n mesa-diodes

AbstractSemiconducting CrSi2 nanocrystals (NCs) with high density (4×1010 cm−2) and narrow size distribution were grown by reactive deposition epitaxy (RDE) of 0.6 nm Cr at 550 °C on Si(111)7 × 7 substrate. Based on DRS, AFM and TEM results silicon cap epitaxy growth procedure on silicon with high density of CrSi2 NCs has been proposed. Monolithic Si(111)/ CrSi2 NCs/Si(111) structures with three layers of buried CrSi2 NCs have been successfully grown by repeating of CrSi2 NCs formation and silicon epitaxial growth. Electrical characterization of Schottky junctions formed on the grown structures has shown that the formation of point defects generated during the growth of the Si cap layer strongly depends on the cap growth conditions and on the Cr deposition rate