Lenticular Ga-oxide nanostructures in thin amorphous germanosilicate layers - Size control and dimensional constraints

Materials & Design

Roberto Lorenzi¹  Jacopo Remondina²  Silvia Trabattoni²  Adele Sassella²  Maurizio Acciarri²  Alberto Paleari²  Roland Resel³  Benedikt Schrode³  Nikita V. Golubev⁴  Elena S. Ignat'eva⁴  Vladimir N. Sigaev⁴ 

[1] P. Sarkisov International Laboratory of Glass-based Functional Materials, Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, Miusskaya Square 9, 125047 Moscow, Russia;Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, Via R. Cozzi 55, I-20125 Milano, Italy;Institute of Solid-State Physics, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 16, AU-8010 Graz, Austria;P. Sarkisov International Laboratory of Glass-based Functional Materials, Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, Miusskaya Square 9, 125047 Moscow, Russia;

关键词: Nanostructured glassceramic materials;    Oxide thin films;    Gallium oxide;    Silicates;    X-ray scattering analysis;    Atomic-force-microscopy;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Gallium incorporation in silicate glasses gives rise to compounds in which the nucleation and growth of Ga-oxide nanostructures can be designer controlled so as to obtain a number of functional properties for photonic applications. However, despite planar geometry pertains to a large part of modern technology, no information is available yet on the scalability of Ga-oxide segregation mechanisms in oxide thin films. In fact, incorporated Ga-oxide nanostructures have only been obtained in bulk materials. Here we show that deposition of Ga-alkali-germanosilicate thin films by radiofrequency-plasma sputtering gives rise to Ga-oxide nanostructures incorporated in an amorphous matrix. X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, small-angle X-ray scattering, and atomic force microscopy data unveil the formation of lenticular nanoaggregates, only a few nm thick, even in as-deposited materials as a result of two-dimensional aggregation of spinel-like Ga2O3 nanoparticles. Importantly, the aggregate size distribution is controlled not only by the temperature but also by the film thickness when it is reduced from 102 nm to only a few nm. The results open the way to the design of oxide-in-oxide thin films with incorporated networks of nanostructures which can act as percolation paths for unconventional electric responses in neuromorphic functional systems.

【 授权许可】

Unknown