SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CRYSTALLINE SI EMBEDDED WITH METALLIC SILICIDE NANOPARTICLES

Abstract

The thermoelectric efficiency of Si-based device has limited its integration into a semiconductor structure. To deal with the challenge, the thesis aimed to develop a means to implement and control average nanoparticle size in Si substrate while retaining a high substrate crystallinity. For starter, an image processing algorithm known as the "Seeded threshold method" was developed to reliably measure the size of embedded nanoparticles, from the difficult-to-process transmission electron microscopy images. Thereafter, we presented a novel approach to embed, nucleate and achieve size control of silicide nanoparticles in Si. By implanting metal ions near the middle of device layer and utilizing annealing with two stages, we obtained nanoparticles with controllable size, embedded in Si with high crystallinity. Relationship between average nanoparticle size and annealing conditions was derived and reduced to a size-diffusion length plot. These laid the groundwork for future researches involving the development of nanoparticles embedded Si-based thermoelectric device.