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Atom probe tomography of phosphorus- and boron-doped silicon nanocrystals with various compositions of silicon rich oxide

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 December 2016

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Abstract

We analyze phosphorus (P)- and boron (B)-doped silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) with various compositions of silicon-rich oxide using atom probe tomography. By creating Si iso-concentration surfaces, it is confirmed that there are two types of Si NC networks depending on the amount of excess Si. A proximity histogram shows that P prefers to locate inside the Si NCs, whereas B is more likely to reside outside the Si NCs. We discuss the difference in a preferential location between P and B by a segregation coefficient.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Responsibility for the views, information, or advice expressed herein is not accepted by the Australian Government. The authors acknowledge the facilities and the scientific and technical assistance of the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility (AMMRF) at the Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis at the University of Sydney. This research was supported by the Faculty of Engineering & Information Technologies, The University of Sydney, under the Faculty Research Cluster Program. This work is partly supported by 2015 JST Visegrad Group (V4)-Japan Joint Research Project on Advanced Materials, and KAKENHI (16H03828). The authors thank T. Kanno (Kobe University) and Dr. T. C.-J. Yang (UNSW) for sample preparation, and the group of Prof. Zacharias (IMTEK) for providing part of the samples used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, The University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Keita Nomoto

  2. IMTEK, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, 79110, Freiburg, Germany

    Sebastian Gutsch

  3. Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis, and School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Anna V. Ceguerra & Andrew Breen

  4. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University, Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan

    Hiroshi Sugimoto & Minoru Fujii

  5. School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, The University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Ivan Perez-Wurfl

  6. Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, and School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Simon P. Ringer

  7. School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, The University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Gavin Conibeer

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  1. Keita Nomoto
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  2. Sebastian Gutsch
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  3. Anna V. Ceguerra
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  9. Gavin Conibeer
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Correspondence to Keita Nomoto or Gavin Conibeer.

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Nomoto, K., Gutsch, S., Ceguerra, A.V. et al. Atom probe tomography of phosphorus- and boron-doped silicon nanocrystals with various compositions of silicon rich oxide. MRS Communications 6, 283–288 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2016.37

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