The melting of silicon nanocrystals: Submicron thin-film structures derived from nanocrystal precursors

The size-dependent melting temperature has been shown for the group IV semiconductor silicon. A cursory comparison is made between silicon nanocrystal melting and that observed in the group II-VI material Cds and the group III-V material GaAs. Particles dispersed at a number density such that there are interactions between nanocrystals are observed to sinter before size-dependent melting occurs. Using an electron beam to selectively remove an organic mask from a substrate, this phenomenon is exploited to produce thin-film structures. This work has implications in the production of nanoelectronics, nonlinear optics and solar conversion technologies.