CREATION OF HIGHLY-ORDERED SI NANOCRYSTAL DOTS SUSPENDED IN SIO2 BY MOLECULAR-BEAM EPITAXY WITH LOW-ENERGY OXYGEN IMPLANTATION

Low energy oxygen implantation during Si molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) allows the formation of highly-oriented Si nanocrystal dots (NCDs) sus pended in SiO2. Transmission electron microscopy reveals the unusual f acet morphology of NCD while the spontaneous orientation of the crysta l axis of NCD toward [100] is clearly observed. well-developed {100} a nd {111} facets are characterized by nearly perfect Si/SiO2 interfaces . Compelling evidence is found for the epitaxial origin of NCD inherit ed from the parental two-dimensional Si slabs.