Results in Physics 7 (2017) 1128–1134

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Results in Physics
journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/results-in-physics

Studies on silicon quantum dots prepared at different working pressure

Faisal A. Al-Agel a,⇑, Jamal Suleiman b, Shamshad A. Khan c
a
Physics Department, College of Science, AlJouf University, PO Box 2014, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
b
Department of Physics, University of Hail, Hail, Saudi Arabia
c
Department of Physics, St. Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur, U.P. 273001, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This research work describes the synthesis and characterization of Si quantum dots of thickness 20 nm
Received 21 January 2017 prepared on glass/quartz substrate by Physical Vapour Condensation Technique at the working pressure
Received in revised form 3 March 2017 of 5 and 10 Torr with fixed substrate temperature 77 K using liquid nitrogen. The synthesized quantum
Accepted 3 March 2017
dots were studied by FESEM, HRTEM, X-ray diffraction, UV–visible spectroscopy, photoluminescence and
Available online 8 March 2017
FTIR spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction pattern of synthesized quantum dots shows the amorphous
nature. FESEM images of synthesized quantum dots suggest that the size of quantum dots varies from
Keywords:
4–6 nm which is further confirmed by HRTEM. On the basis of optical absorbance by UV–visible spec-
Si quantum dots
Thin films
troscopy, a direct band gap has been detected. FTIR spectra suggest that the as-grown Si quantum dots
XRD are partially oxidized which is due exposure of samples to air after taking out the samples from the cham-
Optical properties ber. PL spectra show a broad peak at 444 nm, which may be attributed to the configuration of amorphous
Electrical properties Si quantum dots. A slight shift in the peak position has been observed with increase in working pressure
from 5 Torr to 10 Torr. The dc conductivity with temperature of Si quantum dots has also been studied
from 303 to 454 K. It is evident that the dc conductivity (rdc) enhances linearly with temperature,
showing that conduction in Si quantum dots is due to an activated action which further verify the
semiconductor deportment of these quantum dots.
Ó 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Introduction circuits [1]. The optical interconnects are expected for the higher
integrated circuits and three-dimensional circuits. Many different
The study of materials with nanosized structures has attracted types of optical interconnect have been developed and discussed:
much attention and has become a very active field of research optical interconnects between circuit boards in the computer,
due to their unique fundamental structural, chemical and optical between chips, and between individual elements within in a chip
properties and innovative uses in various modern technological [2]. The study towards a full understanding the synthesis and prop-
fields. Today, more and more scientists are devoted their research erties of Si nanoparticles is still under way [3].
in the mesoscopic world in order to get a better understanding of In the recent area of nanoscience and nanotechnology, nanos-
the unexplored zone between classical and modern physics. It is tructured semiconductor has acquired great deal of attention by
believed that nanotechnology will be the core of the information the researchers in both theoretical and experimental fields. Now
age in the future. The solar energy becomes an economical source the challenge is to produce nanomaterials with controlled size dis-
of energy to provide a clear solution to the current energy crisis in tribution, shape, tuned properties and interfacing with substrates
the world. Solar cells based on Si quantum dots are most interest- [4]. Due to this reason, attention has been made on semiconductor
ing area of research for next generation solar cell technology. The quantum dots. Zhen et al. [5] have prepared semiconductor quan-
quantum dots (QDs) offer the impressive ability to harvest sun- tum dots solar cells with enhanced efficiency, Yu et al. [6] have
light, useful characteristics of photo stability, dependence of opti- synthesized Mn-doped CdS quantum dots for solar cell application,
cal properties on size, higher extinction coefficient and cheap Wang et al. [7] have studied the size dependence semiconductor
costs. In the near future, the single-electron nanodevices and quantum dots with power conversion efficiency of dye cosensi-
molecular devices will be manufactured as higher integrated tized solar cells, Raj et al. [8–9] have observed the improved
photovoltaic application of different semiconductor quantum dot
solar cell, Jiao et al. [10] have studied CdS and PbS quantum dots
⇑ Corresponding author. with improved performance, Zhang et al. [11] have worked on
E-mail address: [email protected] (F.A. Al-Agel).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2017.03.002
2211-3797/Ó 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 F.A. Al-Agel et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 1128–1134 1129

electrochemical and optical studies of CdS/CdSe solar cells. Several field was applied across the sample by applying a dc voltage and
other researchers [12–16] have used different semiconductor the resultant current was recorded by using Keithley digital elec-
quantum dots for the enhancement of power conversion efficiency trometer. The film temperature was raised from 303 to 454 K by
of Solar cells. an interval of 3 K and the resulting current was recorded.
Now a days, several researchers are investigating Si quantum
dots for solar cell applications. Kintz et al. [17] have synthesized Results and discussions
Si quantum dots/SiO2 composite films for its application in third
generation solar cells. Waheed A. Badawy [18] has made a review FESEM, HRTEM and X-ray diffraction studies
on solar cells from Si quantum dots. Yu et al. [19] have studied the
influence of phosphorus additive on physical, optical and electrical The surface morphology of Si quantum dots prepared on glass
properties of Si quantum dots/SiO2 films. Li [20] et al. have studied substrate has been investigated using Field Emission Scanning
the enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting from Si quan- Electron Microscope. Fig. 1 show the FESEM images of Si quantum
tum dots. Shi et al. [21] have studied the improvement of dots at different resolution synthesized at 5 Torr and 10 Torr work-
graphene-Si solar cell. Guha et al. [22] have studied the amorphous ing pressure. It is revealed that the prepared films in both working
and nanocrystalline Si solar cell and its module. Hung et al. [23] pressures contain quantum dots of average size of about 5 nm.
have studied the enhancement of efficiency of Si Solar cell through Fig. 2 shows the HRTEM images of Si quantum dots deposited at
a downshifting and antireflective oxysulfide phosphor layer. Xu 5 Torr and 10 Torr working pressure. HRTEM images also confirm
et al. [24] have studied the spectral features of carrier transforma- the size of quantum dots varying from 5 to 10 nm. These images
tion of Si cluster to nanostructured Si rich Oxide/SiO2 multilayer suggest that the Si quantum dot aggregate and the inter quantum
film. Schimmoeller et al. [25] have studied the synthesis of Si dot spacing is 0.31 nm. On increasing the working pressure from
and tin doped Si powder for Li-Ion batteries. Shah et al. [26] have 5 Torr to 10 Torr, the size of the quantum dots is reduced and more
made a review on the preparation of Si nanomaterials by arc dis- aggregation is seen, but the inter quantum dot spacing remains the
charge. The present research work describes the synthesis, struc- same. XRD patterns of the synthesized Si quantum dots have been
tural, optical and electrical characterization of Si quantum dots obtained with the help of Rigaku Ultima IV diffractometer [the
prepared at different working pressure and at fixed substrate source was copper target with k = 1.54056 Å (Cuka1)]. The range
temperature. of scan was from 10° to 80°. The XRD patterns of both the samples
are shown in the Fig. 3. We have not observed any significant peak
in XRD pattern, which suggests the amorphous nature of the syn-
Experimental work
thesized quantum dots.
Materials
Optical studies
The Si quantum dots of thickness 20 nm were prepared on
glass/quartz substrate at 5 Torr and 10 Torr working pressure with Optical reflection and absorption of Si quantum dots prepared
constant substrate temperature (77 K) by physical vapor condensa- on quartz substrate at different working pressure have been stud-
tion technique. The thickness of the film was measured by using a ied from 200 to 1100 nm wavelength. The optical absorption
quartz crystal monitor (Edward model FTM 7). The evaporation recorded using UV–Vis spectrophotometer can be converted into
was controlled by using the same FTM 7 quartz crystal monitor. absorption coefficient (a) as [27,28].
Silicon chips were placed in a boat inside the chamber. The cham- Absorption coefficient ðaÞ
ber was evacuated to 10
6 Torr by using molecular turbo pump. ¼ AbsorbanceðOptical DensityÞ=Film Thickness ð1Þ
After this vacuum, the chamber was purged with argon gas at
two different pressures of 5 and 10 Torr with substrate tempera- The absorption coefficient has been evaluated by using Eq. (1)
ture at 77 K using liquid nitrogen and then, the Si quantum dots and its plot with photon energy (hm) is represented in Fig. 4. An
were grown directly on glass and quartz substrate. The Si quantum exponential increment is observed in a with increase in photon
dots of different sizes were obtained under argon pressure of 5 and energy for the both the samples. The Si quantum dots fabricated
10 Torr at constant substrate temperature. at higher argon gas pressure (10 Torr) show higher absorption as
compared to that of prepared at lower argon gas pressure (5 Torr).
This is due to size effect.
Measurements
To calculate the optical band gap of Si quantum dots, we have
used the following relation
The amorphous behavior of Si quantum dots were confirmed by
ðahmÞ ¼ Bðhm
Eg Þ
X-ray diffraction (Rigaku Ultima IV diffractometer) studies. The 1=p
ð2Þ
surface structure of Si quantum dots was determined by Field
Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM-Nova Nano where, m is the incident beam frequency, p is an exponent, B is a
Sem450, FEI). The size of the Si quantum dots were examined by constant and Eg is band gap. The possible value of p may be 1/2,
High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM- 3/2, 2 and 3 which depends upon various electronic transition dur-
Tecnai G 2 F30 S-Twin). The surface composition of the quantum ing the absorption process [29–31]. The present system of as-
dots were identified by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR-Bruker, deposited silicon quantum dots follows the direct transition rule
Vertex 70V) spectroscopy. The absorption and reflection of Si quan- i.e. p = 1/2 [32]. Due to direct transition, we can write Eq. (2) as
tum dots were studied by UV–VIS spectroscopy (Carry 5000, Agi- [32–33].
lent). Photoluminance (Model RF-5301 PC, Shimadzu, Japan)
ðahmÞ a ðhm
Eg Þ
2
ð3Þ
studies of Si quantum dots prepared at 5 Torr and 10 Torr working
pressure were done in the wavelength region from 250 to 550 nm. The dependence of (ahm)2 with (hm) for Si quantum dots is pre-
For dc conductivity measurements, silver paste was used as thick sented in Fig. 5. The value of Eg has been determined from the X-
electrode on Si quantum dot thin films. The thin films were axis intercept of (ahm)2 versus (hv) plot and are encapsulated in
clamped in a especially designed sample holder in which a vacuum Table 1. The estimated values of optical gap of the Si quantum dots
of 10
3 Torr could be sustained during the experiment. An electric prepared at 5 Torr and 10 Torr chamber pressure are 3.8 eV and
1130 F.A. Al-Agel et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 1128–1134

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

3.6 eV respectively. This decrease in Eg with increase in ambient symmetric stretching (ms) of the O-Si-O and Si-O vibrations
gas pressure in the chamber is due the reduction in quantum dot involved in this spectral region. Whereas, the vibrations observed
size which was further confirmed from HRTEM and FESEM images. in the lower region (600–775 cm
1), are assigned to the ms of the
The refractive index (n) of Si quantum dots has been calculated Si-O-Si linkage. Further, additional bending modes of the OH group
from the reflectivity theory of light. The value of n has been evalu- in the 650–800 cm
1 spectral range may also appear [34]. Strens
ated by using the following relationship, [36] assigned all the peaks appearing in between 550–750 cm
1
2 1=2 to the Si-O-Si bending mode and the vibrations in 950–
n ¼ ½2ð1 þ RÞ þ f4ð1 þ RÞ2
4ð1
RÞ2 ð1 þ k Þg =2ð1
RÞ ð4Þ 1200 cm
1 spectral region are assigned to the Si-Ot stretching
where k is extinction coefficient and is equal to ak/4p at wave- mode (where, Ot is the terminal oxygen). The peak observed at
length (k) of incident light, R is the reflectance. 701 cm
1 is assigned to neutral oxygen vacancies, described as
The dependence of n with (hm) of Si quantum dots prepared at „SiASi„ [37]. The peaks at 423 and 512 cm
1 are assigned to
different working pressure is shown in Fig. 6 and its value at a par- stretching and bending modes of Si-O-Si [38–39]. Several authors
ticular wavelength is listed in Table 1. It may be noted from this [40–41] reported that the peaks observed at 660–700 cm
1 indi-
table that the values of n enhanced with increasing (hm) and also cates the high density of Si-Si bonds. An intense peak observed
working pressure. at 611 cm–1 corresponds to the stretching vibrations of the Si–Si
[42–43]. The peak at 966 cm–1 is due to the stretching of Si-OH.
FTIR studies The peaks observed at 1486 cm–1, 1586 cm–1 and 1664 cm–1 may
be assigned to O-Si-Dangling (O-Si-D) stretching [44]. The peaks
FTIR spectra of the Si quantum dots prepared on glass substrate at 3016 cm
1, 3700 cm
1 and 3788 cm
1 may correspond to the
at 5 Torr and 10 Torr working pressure are presented in Fig. 7 and hydroxyl stretching vibrations of silicon [45]. It is important to
its different FTIR vibrations modes are listed in Table 2. FTIR spec- note that the FTIR spectra of Si quantum dots grown at 10 Torr
tra clearly shows the peaks for different vibration modes of Si chamber pressure presents the peaks similar to that of prepared
quantum dots fabricated at 5 and 10 Torr working pressure. Andrut at 5 Torr. At lower wave number side (400–950 cm
1), a small shift
et al. [34] and Lazarev [35] suggested that the spectral bands towards lower wave number side is observed, which may be due to
between 900 and 1150 cm
1 are assigned to the asymmetric reduction in size at higher chamber pressure. At higher wave num-
stretching (mas) of the Si-O-Si and O-Si-O vibrations. There are also ber side, the peak positions are similar to that of prepared at 5 Torr.
 F.A. Al-Agel et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 1128–1134 1131

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 2. HRTEM images of Si quantum dots (a-b) prepared at 5 Torr working pressure at different magnifaction (c-d) prepared at 10 Torr working pressure

Photoluminance (PL) studies

PL spectra of the silicon quantum dots prepared at 5 Torr and 10

Torr working pressure at 77 K substrate temperature are presented
in Fig. 8. PL spectra show a broad peak at 444 nm [46] which may
be attributed to the formation of Si quantum dots. The changes in
the PL intensity with increasing substrate temperature can be asso-
ciated with the change in the density of Si-QDs since the PL inten-
sity and Si-QD density follow the similar trend with increasing
substrate temperature. This may be due to the change in the band
gap/particle size. It has also been detected that the peak intensity
increases with substrate temperatures. This may be due to the
decrease in the band gap and particle size [47]. Primarily, visible
light emission from silicon nanoparticles has been explained by
two mechanisms. Kanemitsu et al. [48] proposed that the origin
of the observed photoluminescence around 1.65 eV is the interface
states between the Si core and the Si dioxide layers. In contrast,
Schuppler et al. [49] suggested that the size dependence of photo-
luminescence energy appears for oxidized nanoparticles smaller
than 10 nm. Wolkin et al. [50] proposed a model in which an elec-
tronic state produced in the band gap due to formation of Si55O
bond determines this upper limit of the luminescence energy. In
the present work, we concentrate on the possible role of surface
states responsible for the photoluminescence. Since the surface
state model is often suggested to be one of the PL mechanism for
various kinds of silicon-based luminescent nanostructures, and it
has also been reported that the surface adsorption of H2O, O2,
C2H5OH and C2(CN)4 molecules would affect the PL performance
of porous Si [51,52]. The structure of these as grown silicon QDs
may be explained as amorphous silicon core surrounded by an Fig. 3. X-ray pattern of Si Quantum Dots prepared at 5 Torr and 10 Torr working
oxide layer. A large quantity of oxygen is absorbed on the surface. pressure.
1132 F.A. Al-Agel et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 1128–1134

225
Prepared at 5 Torr working pressure
200 Prepared at 10 Torr working pressure
Absorption Coefficient (cm ) (10 )
4

175
-1

150

125

100

75

50

25

0
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0

Energy (eV)

Fig. 4. Absorption coefficient (a) against photon energy (hѵ) for Si Quantum dots Fig. 6. Variation of refractive index (n) with photon energy (hѵ) (eV) for Si
prepared at 5 Torr and 10 Torr working pressure. Quantum dots prepared at 5 Torr and 10 Torr working pressure.

Fig. 5. (ahѵ)2 versus hѵ (eV) for Si quantum dots for Si Quantum dots prepared at
5 Torr and 10 Torr working pressure. Fig. 7. FTIR absorbance spectra of Si Quantum dots prepared at 5 Torr and 10 Torr
working pressure.

Table 1
Optical and electrical constants in Si Quantum Dots prepared at different working
Pressures Table 2
Working Absorption Refractive Optical rdc DEc FTIR vibrations modes in Si Quantum Dots prepared at different working pressures
Pressure Coefficient Index (n) at Band (X
1 cm
1) (eV) S. No. Wavenumber (cm
1) Vibration Type
(cm
1) at k = 250 nm Gap At T = 368 K
k = 250 nm (eV) 1. 423 Stretching mode of Si-O-Si
2. 512 Bending mode of Si-O-Si
5 Torr 13.86  105 94.17 3.61 1.55  10
5 0.42 3. 611 Stretching vibrations Si-Si
10 Torr 19.33  105 137.95 3.82 2.78  10
5 0.45 4. 701 Si-Si bond (Oxygen Vacancies)
5. 966 Stretching of Si-OH
6. 1482 O-Si-D stetching
Therefore, the chemical bonding may form surface localized states, 7. 1586 O-Si-D stetching
which participates in the light emission process of these silicon 8. 1664 O-Si-D stetching
9. 3016 Stretching of Si-OH
nanoparticles. A band to band recombination is most likely to take
10. 3700 Stretching of Si-OH
place in the present system. The oxygen related surface state 11. 3788 Stretching of Si-OH
mechanism is proposed to be responsible for the observed photo- 10. 3700 Stretching of Si-OH
luminescence from these as-prepared silicon QDs. 11. 3788 Stretching of Si-OH

Electrical studies
The dark conductivity (rdc) of Si quantum dots thin films at dif-
The beneficial and reliable information regarding transport ferent temperature (T) can be determined by,
mechanism and other physical properties of any material can be
drawn from the knowledge of the electrical transport studies. rdc ¼ r0 expð
DEc =KTÞ ð5Þ
 F.A. Al-Agel et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 1128–1134 1133

quantum dots. The calculated value of dark conductivity with dif-

ferent working pressure is presented in Table 1. The estimated val-
ues of activation energy with different working pressure are given
in Table 1. This table indicates that the conduction mechanism in Si
quantum dots are due to thermally assisted tunneling of carrier
charges in the localized state in band tails. It has also been
observed that the conductivity enhances with working pressure
by order of magnitude. An enhancement in conductivity and acti-
vation energy is associated with change in the position of the Fermi
level [53–54]. It has also been suggested that the increase in dark
conductivity could be based on enhancing the amount of hopping
conduction through defect states [55].

Conclusion

The research work presented here focuses on studies of Si quan-

tum dots prepared by physical vapor condensation technique at
different working pressure and constant substrate temperature.
FESEM analysis recommends the development of Si quantum dots
Fig. 8. PL spectra of Si Quantum dots prepared at 5 Torr and 10 Torr working of average size 5 nm, which was further confirmed by HRTEM.
pressure.
XRD studies reveal the amorphous nature of synthesized quantum
dot. An enhanced optical band with increasing working pressure is
reported in the present results, which is due to the formation of
very small size quantum dots. FTIR measurements suggest that
the Si quantum dots are partially oxidized due to the exposure to
air and the peaks are assigned mainly to Si-O-Si stretching and
bending modes. PL spectra show a broad peak at 444 nm, which
may be attributed to the emergence of amorphous Si quantum
dots. A slight shift in the peak position has been observed with
increase in working pressure from 5 Torr to 10 Torr. The peak posi-
tion shifts slightly towords the low wave length side (Blue shift).
This shift in the peak spectra may be attributed to the enhance-
ment of optical band gap with the increase in working pressure.
This is due to the creation of huge number of energy tails extend-
ing beyond the band gap. This high energy endowment is due to
the electron hole recombination. An exponential increase in dc
conductivity is observed with rise in temperature from 303 to
454 K, suggesting that the conduction process in these quantum
dots is through an activated process which further confirms the
semiconducting nature of quantum dots.

Acknowledgements
Fig. 9. Temperature dependence of dc conductivity in the temperature range (303
to 454 K) of Si Quantum dots prepared at 5 Torr and 10 Torr working pressure.
The authors would like to express their thanks and gratitude to
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Saudi
Arabia for funding this project (MS-35-281). This work would not
where, r0 is pre-exponential factor, DEc is activation energy and K have been possible without the generous assistance of KACST,
is Boltzmann constant. University of Hail and AlJouf University, Saudi Arabia.
We may write Eq. (5) as,
References
ln rdc ¼ ln r0
ðDEc =KTÞ ð6Þ
[1] Wada Y, Tsukada M, Fujihira M, Matsushige K, Ogawa T, Haga M, Tanaka S.
or ln rdc ¼
ðDEc =1000 KÞð1000=TÞ þ ln r0 ð7Þ Prospects and Problems of Single Molecule Information Devices. Jpn J Appl
Phys 2000;39:3835.
Using Eq. (7), the plot of ln rdc and 1000/T should be straight [2] Savage N. Linking with light (high-speed optical interconnects). IEEE Spectr
2002;39(8):32.
line with a slope of (DEc/1000 K). [3] Lockwood DJ. Light emissionin silicon: from physics to device. New
The value of DEc can be evaluated as follows, York: Academic Press; 1998.
[4] Cheng Z, Su F, Pan L, Cao M, Sun Z. J Alloys Comp 2010;494:L7–L10.
DEc ¼ 1000 K  slope ð8Þ [5] Li Z, Yu L, Liu Y, Su S. Electrochim Acta 2014;129:379–88.
[6] Yu L, Li Z, Liu Y, Cheng F, Sun S. Appl Surf Sci 2014;305:359–65.
The dc conductivity with temperature from 303 to 454 K of Si [7] Baoyuan Wang B, Hao Ding H, Yunxia HuY, Zhou H, Wang S, Wang T, Liu R,
Zhang J, Wang X, Wang H. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2013;38:16733–9.
quantum dots thin films prepared at 5 Torr and 10 Torr working
[8] Raj CJ, Karthick SN, Park S, Hemalatha KV, Kim SK, Prabakar K, Kim HJ, Yang S,
pressure has been studied and represented in Fig. 9. It is observable Nair AS, Ramakrishna S. J. Power Sources 2014;248:439–46.
that the dc conductivity (rdc) enhances in exponential manner [9] Raj CJ, Karthick SN, Hemalatha KV, Kim HJ, Prabakar K. Thin Solid Films
with rise in temperature from 303 to 454 K, showing that the cur- 2013;548:636–40.
[10] Jiao J, Zhou ZJ, Zhou WH, Wu SX. Mat Sci Semi Process 2013;16:435–40.
rent conduction in Si quantum dots is through an activation pro- [11] Chou CY, Li CT, Lee CP, Lin LY, Yeh MH, Vittal R, Ho KC. Electrochim Acta
cessor which further confirms the semiconducting nature of Si 2013;88:35–43.
1134 F.A. Al-Agel et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 1128–1134

[12] Al-Douri Y, Khasawneh Q, Kiwan S, Hashim U, Abd Hamid SB, Reshak AH, [34] Andrut M, Gottschalk M, Melzer S, Najorka J. Phy Chem Min 2000;27:301–9.
Bouhemadou A, Ameri M, Khenata R. Energy Conv Manag 2014;82:238–43. [35] Lazarev AN. Vibrational spectra and structure of silicates. New York and
[13] Vedraine S, Le-Rouzo J, Chen SH, Flory F, Lee CC. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells London: Consultants Bureau; 1972.
2013;117:652–6. [36] Strens RGJ. The common chain, ribbon, and ring silicates. In: Farmer VC, editor.
[14] Sarker JC, Vasan R, Makableh YF, Lee S, Nusir AI, Manasreh MO. Sol Energy The Infrared Spectra of Minerals. London: Mineralogical Society; 1974. p.
Mater Sol Cells 2014;127:58–62. 305–30.
[15] Zhou R, Zhang Q, Uchaker E, Yang L, Yin N, Chen Y, Yin M, Cao G. Electrochim [37] Morioka T, Kimura S, Tsuda N, Taito C, Saito Y, Koike C. Mon Not R Astron Soc
Acta 2014;135:284–92. 1998;299:78.
[16] Gao B, Shen C, Yuan S, Zhang B, Zhang M, Yang Y, Chen G. J Alloys Comp [38] Makreski P, Jovanovski G, Gajovic A. Vib Spectrosc 2006;40:98–109.
2014;612:323–9. [39] Jovanovski G, Makreski P, Kaitner B, Boev B. Croatia Chemica Acta
[17] Kintz H, Paquez X, Sublemontier O, Leconte Y, Herlin-Boime N, Reynaud C. 2009;8:363–86.
Thin Solid Films 2015;593:96–101. [40] Inokuma T, Kurata Y, Hasewaga S. J. Lumin 1998;80:247–51.
[18] Badawy WA. J Adv Res 2015;6:123–32. [41] Baierle RJ, Caldas MJ, Molinari E, Ossicini S. Solid State Commun
[19] Yu X, Yu W, Wang X, Zheng Y, Zhang J, Jiang Z, Fu G. Superlattices Microstruct 1997;102:545–9.
2015;78:88–96. [42] Wu WG, Liu JL, Tang YS, Wang KL. Superlattices Microst 1999;26:219–27.
[20] Li Z, Cui X, Hao H, Lu M, Lin Y. Mater Res Bull 2015;66:9–15. [43] Shokri B, Firouzjah MA, Hosseini SI, www.ispcconference.org/ispcproc/ispc19/
[21] Shi E, Li H, Xu W, Wu S, Wei J, Fang Y, Cao A. Nano Energy 2015;17:216–23. 791.pdf.
[22] Guha S, Yang J, Yan B. Ref Module Mat Sci Mat Engg 2016. Current as of 28 [44] Belogorokhov AI, Gavrilov SA, Kashkarov PK, Belogorokhov IA. Physica Status
October 2015. Solidi 2015;202:1581–5.
[23] Hung WB, Chen TM. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 2015;133:39–47. [45] Apopei AI, Buzgar N, Buzatu A. din Iasi Seria Geologie 2011;57(2):35–58.
[24] Xu Y, Li S, Zhao Z, Ren Z, Yu W. Vacuum 2015;120:37–41. [46] Ichenco AA, Fetisov GB, Aslalnov LA. Nanosilicon: properties, synthesis,
[25] Schimmoeller B, Blizanac B, Massey K, DuPasquier A, Kodas T, Oljaca M, Smith applications, methods of analysis and control. CRC Press; 2014. pp. 267.
G, Kutsovsky Y. Adv Powder Tech 2015;26:1652–62. [47] Gelloz B, Loni A, Canham L, Koshida N. Nanoscale Res Lett 2012;7(1):382.
[26] Shah SA, Cui S. Mat Sci Sem Process 2015;40:491–500. [48] Kanemitu Y, Ogawa T, Shiraishi K, Takeda K. Phys Rev B 1993;48:74883.
[27] Khan SA, Al-Ghamdi AA. Mater Lett 2009;63:1740–2. [49] Schuppler S, Friedman SL, Marcus MA, Adler DL, Xie YH, Ross FM, Harris TD,
[28] Khan SA, Al-Hazmi FS, Al-Heniti S, Faidah AS, Al-Ghamdi AA. Curr Appl Phys Brown WL, Chabal YJ, Brus LE, Citrin PH. Phys Rev Lett 1994;72:2648.
2010;10:145–52. [50] Wolkin MV, Journe J, Fauchet PM, Allan G, Delerue C. Phys Rev Lett
[29] Maan AS, Goyal DR, Sharma SK, Sharma TP. J Phys III 1994;4:493–501. 1999;82:197.
[30] Al-Agel FA, Al-Arfaj EA, Al-Marzouki FM, Khan SA, Khan ZH, Al-Ghamdi AA. [51] Dittrich T, Konstantinova EA, Yu Timoshenko V. Thin Solid Films
Mat Sci Sem Proc 2013;16:884–92. 1995;255:238.
[31] Khan ZH, Salah N, Habib S, Al-Ghamdi AA, Khan SA. Opt Laser Technol [52] Dittrich T, Konstantinova EA. J Appl Phys 1994;75(10):5438.
2012;44:6–11. [53] Agne M, Lambrecht A, Schie U, Tacke M. Infrared Phys Technol 1994;35:47.
[32] Kumar S, Khan ZH, Khan MAM, Husain M. Curr Appl Phys 2005;5:561. [54] Khan SA, Zulfequar M, Khan ZH, Ilyas M, Husain M. Opt Mater 2002;20:189.
[33] Alvi MA, Khan SA, Al-Ghamdi AA. Mater Lett 2012;66:273–5. [55] Qasrawi AF. Thin Solid Films 2011;519:6583.