Self-organized nanoclusters of semiconductor compounds on vicinal Si surfaces and its influence on carrier recombination in Si

The self-organized nanocluster ensembles of ZnSe, CdSe and PbS were grown b y laser ablation on vicinal Silicon (111) surfaces. The properties of the l ayers were investigated by XPS (X-rays photoelectron spectroscopy) and Auge r spectroscopy. The properties of the semiconductor-clustered layer on sing le Si crystal structure were investigated by deep level transient spectrosc opy (DLTS) and by microwave absorption induced by light pulse excitation. T he clustered layer and multilayer structure modified the recombination at t he Si surface and created additional carrier capture centres. Absolute valu es of surface recombination rate, s, were determined by the method of asymp totic lifetime amplitude. An increase of s is caused by formation of PbS cl usters, while for CdSe clusters, this dependence was found to be weaker. St ructures with barriers or flat conduction bands were grown on the silicon s urface using different doping concentrations of layers. (C) 2001 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.