FABRICATION OF SI SIO2 NANOCOMPOSITE THIN-FILMS/

Si-rich SiO2 films were deposited onto Si and quartz substrates by rf co-sputtering, and then annealed under vacuum at temperatures between 500 to 900 degrees C for 1 hour. A combination of high resolution tran smission electron microscopy, optical ellipsometry, and UV/VIS and FTI R photospectrometry were used to investigate the microstructures and o ptical properties of the co-sputtered films before and after annealing . The as-deposited films consisted of a fully amorphous SiOx(1<x<2) st ructure. After annealing, the films consisted of clusters of crystalli ne Si with average sizes in the range between 3nm and 8nm embedded in a stoichiometric SiO2 amorphous matrix.