Jp. Carpenter et al., FORMATION OF CRYSTALLINE GERMANIUM NANOCLUSTERS IN A SILICA XEROGEL MATRIX FROM AN ORGANOGERMANIUM PRECURSOR, Chemistry of materials, 8(6), 1996, pp. 1268-1274
Addition of the organogermanium compound, Me(3)GeS(CH2)(3)Si(OMe)(3),
to a modified, conventional sol-gel formulation gives a silica xerogel
doped with this molecular species. Subsequent thermal treatment of th
is molecularly doped xerogel under oxidizing then reducing conditions
affords nanoclusters of Ge highly dispersed throughout the bulk of the
xerogel matrix. Under appropriate conditions, Ge nanoclusters having
an average diameter of ca. 68 Angstrom can be formed by this procedure
. Characterization of this nanocomposite material by TEM, HRTEM, EDS,
XRD, micro-Raman spectroscopy, electron diffraction, and UV-visible sp
ectroscopy indicates that the Ge nanoclusters are highly crystalline a
nd exhibit optical properties consistent with those expected when quan
tum confinement effects are operative.