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The possibility to engineer (GeTe)m(Sb2Te3)n phase-change materials to co-host ferroelectricity is extremely attractive. The combination of these functionalities holds great technological impact, potentially enabling the design of novel multifunctional devices. Here an experimental and theoretical study of epitaxial (GeTe)m(Sb2Te3)n with GeTe-rich composition is presented. These layered films feature a tunable distribution of (GeTe)m(Sb2Te3)1 blocks of different sizes. Breakthrough evidence of ferroelectric displacement in thick (GeTe)m(Sb2Te3)1 lamellae is provided. The density functional theory calculations suggest the formation of a tilted (GeTe)m slab sandwiched in GeTe-rich blocks. That is, the net ferroelectric polarization is confined almost in-plane, representing an unprecedented case between 2D and bulk ferroelectric materials. The ferroelectric behavior is confirmed by piezoresponse force microscopy and electroresistive measurements. The resilience of the quasi van der Waals character of the films, regardless of their composition, is also demonstrated. Hence, the material developed hereby gathers in a unique 2D platform the phase-change and ferroelectric switching properties, paving the way for the conception of innovative device architectures.

ZnO nanopillars were implanted with Au-400 keV and Ag-252 keV ions with ion fluences from 1 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻² to 1 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻². We compared ZnO nanopillars solely implanted with Au-ions and dually-implanted with Au and Ag-ions. Rutherford Back-Scattering spectrometry (RBS) confirmed Ag and Au embedded in ZnO nanopillar layers in a reasonable agreement with theoretical calculations. A decreasing thickness of the ZnO nanopillar layer was evidenced with the increasing ion implantation fluences. Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) showed a decrease of refractive index in the nanopillar parts with embedded Au, Ag-ions. XRD discovered vertical domain size decreasing with the proceeding radiation damage accumulated in ZnO nanopillars which effect was preferably ascribed to Au-ions. SE and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) showed optical activity of the created nanoparticles at wavelength range 500 – 600 nm and 430 – 700 nm for the Au-implanted and Au, Ag-implanted ZnO nanopillars, respectively. Photoluminescence (PL) features linked to ZnO deep level emission appear substantially enhanced due to plasmonic interaction with metal nanoparticles created by Ag, Au-implantation. Photocatalytic activity seems to be more influenced by the nanoparticles presented in the layer rather than the surface morphology. Dual implantation with Ag, Au-ions enhanced optical activity to a larger extent without significant morphology deterioration as compared to the solely Au-ion implanted nanopillars.

Nanopillars of ZnO were implanted with Au-400 keV ions at various ion fluences from 1 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻² to 1 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻² and subsequently annealed at 750 °C for 15 min in order to reduce the implantation damage and to support Au nanoparticle (NP) aggregation. It was found that implantation-induced effects and thermal effects influence the Au NP coalescence as well as the quality of the ZnO nanopillars. Rutherford Back-Scattering spectrometry (RBS) showed the broader Au-depth profiles than it was theoretically predicted, but the Au-concentration maximum agrees well with prediction taking into account the effective ZnO layer density. The implantation at the higher fluences induced the morphology modification of the nanopillar layer evidenced by RBS and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An indirect evidence of this effect was given by optical ellipsometry due to gradual refractive index changes in the ZnO nanopillars with the increased Au-ion fluence. Optical characterization of the Au-implanted and annealed nanopillars performed by means of photoluminescence (PL) and diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) evidenced the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) activity of the embedded Au NPs. The SPR-enhanced scattering and PL emission observed in the spectral range 500–650 nm are ascribed to Au NPs or more complex Au-clusters. In addition, the ellipsometry measurements of extinction coefficient are found to corroborate well results from DRS, both indicating increase of SPR effect with the increase of Au-ion fluence and after the post-annealing.

The paper reports on implantation damage accumulation, Ag distribution and the interior morphology in different crystallographic orientations of implanted samples of cubic yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ). (100)-, (110)- and (111)-oriented YSZ was implanted with 400-keV Ag⁺ ions at ion fluences from 5 × 10¹⁴ to 5 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻². Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) in the channelling mode (RBS-C), as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD), were used for the quantitative measurement of the lattice disorder and Ag distribution. The defect propagation and Ag accumulation were observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Although similar damage evolution trends were observed along with all channelling directions, the disorder accumulation is lower along the <110> direction than along the <100> and <111> direction. The damage extends much deeper than the theoretically predicted depths. It is attributed to long-range defect migration effects, confirmed by TEM. At the ion fluence of 5 × 10¹⁶ cm⁻², nanometre-sized Ag precipitates were identified in the depth of 30–130 nm based on the Ag concentration–depth profiles determined by RBS.

In recent years strain engineering is proposed in chalcogenide superlattices (SLs) to shape in particular the switching functionality for phase change memory applications. This is possible in Sb2Te3/GeTe heterostructures leveraging on the peculiar behavior of Sb2Te3, in between covalently bonded and weakly bonded materials. In the present study, the structural and thermoelectric (TE) properties of epitaxial Sb2+xTe3 films are shown, as they represent an intriguing option to expand the horizon of strain engineering in such SLs. Samples with composition between Sb2Te3 and Sb4Te3 are prepared by molecular beam epitaxy. A combination of X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, together with dedicated simulations, allows unveiling the structural characteristics of the alloys. A consistent evaluation of the structural disorder characterizing the material is drawn as well as the presence of both Sb2 and Sb4 slabs is detected. A strong link exists among structural and TE properties, the latter having implications also in phase change SLs. A further improvement of the TE performances may be achieved by accurately engineering the intrinsic disorder. The possibility to tune the strain in designed Sb2+xTe3/GeTe SLs by controlling at the nanoscale the 2D character of the Sb2+xTe3 alloys is envisioned

(0001) c-plane, (11-20) a-plane, and m-plane (10-10) ZnO bulk crystals were implanted with 400-keV Gd+ ions using fluences of 5 × 1014, 1 × 1015, 2.5 × 1015, and 5 × 1015 cm-2. Structural changes during the implantation and subsequent annealing were characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in channeling mode (RBS-C); the angular dependence of the backscattered ions (angular scans) in c-, a-, and m-plane ZnO was realized to get insight into structural modification and dopant position in various crystallographic orientations. X-ray diffraction (XRD) with mapping in reciprocal space was also used for introduced defect identification. Defect-accumulation depth profiles exhibited differences for c-, a-, and m-plane ZnO, with the a-plane showing significantly lower accumulated disorder in the deeper layer in Zn-sublattice, accompanied by the preservation of ion channeling phenomena in a-plane ZnO. Enlargement of the main lattice parameter was evidenced, after the implantation, in all orientations. The highest was evidenced in a-plane ZnO. The local compressive deformation was seen with XRD analysis in polar (c-plane) ZnO, and the tensile deformation was observed in nonpolar ZnO (a-plane and m-plane orientations) being in agreement with RBS-C results. Raman spectroscopy showed distinct structural modification in various ZnO orientations simultaneously with identification of the disordered structure in O-sublattice. Nonpolar ZnO showed a significant increase in disorder in O-sublattice exhibited by E2(high) disappearance and enhancement of A1(LO) and E1(LO) phonons connected partially to oxygen vibrational modes. The lowering of the E2(low) phonon mode and shift to the lower wavenumbers was observed in c-plane ZnO connected to Zn-sublattice disordering. Such observations are in agreement with He ion channeling, showing channeling effect preservation with only sl

In recent years strain engineering is proposed in chalcogenide superlattices (SLs) to shape in particular the switching functionality for phase change memory applications. This is possible in Sb2Te3/GeTe heterostructures leveraging on the peculiar behavior of Sb2Te3, in between covalently bonded and weakly bonded materials. In the present study, the structural and thermoelectric (TE) properties of epitaxial Sb2+xTe3 films are shown, as they represent an intriguing option to expand the horizon of strain engineering in such SLs. Samples with composition between Sb2Te3 and Sb4Te3 are prepared by molecular beam epitaxy. A combination of X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, together with dedicated simulations, allows unveiling the structural characteristics of the alloys. A consistent evaluation of the structural disorder characterizing the material is drawn as well as the presence of both Sb2 and Sb4 slabs is detected. A strong link exists among structural and TE properties, the latter having implications also in phase change SLs. A further improvement of the TE performances may be achieved by accurately engineering the intrinsic disorder. The possibility to tune the strain in designed Sb2+xTe3/GeTe SLs by controlling at the nanoscale the 2D character of the Sb2+xTe3 alloys is envisioned

The fabrication of regularly ordered Gequantum dot arrays on Si surfaces usually requires extensive preparation processing, ensuring clean and atomically ordered substrates, while the ordering parameters are quite limited by the surface properties of the substrate. Here, we demonstrate a simple method for fabrication of ordered Gequantum dots with highly tunable ordering parameters on rippled Si surfaces. The ordering is achieved by magnetron sputter deposition, followed by an annealing in high vacuum. We show that the type of ordering and lattice vector parameters of the formed Gequantum dot lattice are determined by the crystallographic properties of the ripples, i.e., by their shape and orientation. Moreover, the ordering is achieved regardless the initial amorphisation of the ripples surface and the presence of a thin oxide layer.

We present an investigation of ordering and PL properties of Ge QDs in an alumina matrix formed by magnetron-sputtering deposition of (Ge+Al2O3)/Al2O3 multilayers. The self-assembly process occurs during the deposition and results with the formation of three-dimensional quantum dots lattices. We investigate the dependencies of the size and ordering properties on the deposition temperature, rotation of the substrate holder and direction of the incoming flux of Ge during the deposition process. The results of the investigation show that tuning the deposition temperature enables manipulation with QD sizes and their mutual distances. We show that the ordering of QDs obtained by deposition on fixed substrate holder leads to the formation of a quantum dot crystal, while the rotation of substrate holder leads to randomly rotated domains with regular ordering. The observed phenomenon is explained by a combination of the surface morphology effect on the nucleation positions of Ge quantum dots with a lateral inhomogeneity of the ad-atom flux. In addition, we show that the resulting quantum-dot lattices have size-dependent PL properties.

We report on an in-situ and ex-situ X-ray investigations of a self-assembled growth of Ge nanocrystals embedded in a dielectric matrix forming BCC- or FCC-like superstructures. Germanium quantum dots (QD’s) embedded in dielectric matrices like SiO2 [1] or Al2O3 [2] have numerous interesting properties e.g. a strong quantum confinement. They could be used in optoelectronic devices and memory systems. Such a material can be a key element for the development of a new generation of solar cells extending the spectral range for electrical energy generation, either for an up and/or down conversion of the incident photons or simply as one part of a multilayer stack arrangement.

We report on an in-situ and ex-situ X-ray investigations of a self-assembled growth of Ge nanocrystals embedded in a dielectric matrix forming BCC- or FCC-like superstructures. Germanium quantum dots (QD’s) embedded in dielectric matrices like SiO2 [1] or Al2O3 [2] have numerous interesting properties e.g. a strong quantum confinement. They could be used in optoelectronic devices and memory systems. Such a material can be a key element for the development of a new generation of solar cells extending the spectral range for electrical energy generation, either for an up and/or down conversion of the incident photons or simply as one part of a multilayer stack arrangement.

We present an investigation of ordering and PL properties of Ge QDs in an alumina matrix formed by magnetron-sputtering deposition of (Ge+Al2O3)/Al2O3 multilayers. The self-assembly process occurs during the deposition and results with the formation of three-dimensional quantum dots lattices. We investigate the dependencies of the size and ordering properties on the deposition temperature, rotation of the substrate holder and direction of the incoming flux of Ge during the deposition process. The results of the investigation show that tuning the deposition temperature enables manipulation with QD sizes and their mutual distances. We show that the ordering of QDs obtained by deposition on fixed substrate holder leads to the formation of a quantum dot crystal, while the rotation of substrate holder leads to randomly rotated domains with regular ordering. The observed phenomenon is explained by a combination of the surface morphology effect on the nucleation positions of Ge quantum dots with a lateral inhomogeneity of the ad-atom flux. In addition, we show that the resulting quantum-dot lattices have size-dependent PL properties.

The formation of quantum dot crystals by multilayer deposition has been reported and explained satisfactorily only in crystalline materials, so far. Here we demonstrate a method for the growth of quantum dot crystals in amorphous matrices. The ordering of the positions of quantum dots is induced by the deposition of a multilayer on a periodically rippled substrate at an elevated substrate temperature. During the deposition, the quantum dots self-arrange following the morphology of the substrate. The result is a formation of well ordered lattice of Ge quantum dots in amorphous silica matrix. We have investigated the ordering of the dots by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering and we found that the distance of the dots in the multilayer interfaces close to the rippled surface indeed equals the ripple period. However, in more distant interfaces the dot-dot distance approaches the value for non-rippled substrate and the dot ordering is slightly less pronounced. This finding confirms the beneficial influence of the rippled substrate on the ordering of quantum dots in an amorphous matrix.

We report on structural properties and charge trapping in [(Ge+SiO2)/SiO2]×2 films deposited by magnetron sputtering on a periodically corrugated-rippled substrate and annealed in vacuum and forming gas. The rippled substrate caused a self-ordered growth of Ge quantum dots, while annealing in different environments enabled us to separate charge trapping in quantum dots from the trapping at the dot-matrix and matrix-substrate interfaces. We show that the charge trapping occurs mainly in Ge quantum dots in the films annealed in the forming gas, while Si–SiO2 interface trapping is dominant for the vacuum annealed films.

The formation of quantum dot crystals by multilayer deposition has been reported and explained satisfactorily only in crystalline materials, so far. Here we demonstrate a method for the growth of quantum dot crystals in amorphous matrices. The ordering of the positions of quantum dots is induced by the deposition of a multilayer on a periodically rippled substrate at an elevated substrate temperature. During the deposition, the quantum dots self-arrange following the morphology of the substrate. The result is a formation of well ordered lattice of Ge quantum dots in amorphous silica matrix. We have investigated the ordering of the dots by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering and we found that the distance of the dots in the multilayer interfaces close to the rippled surface indeed equals the ripple period. However, in more distant interfaces the dot-dot distance approaches the value for non-rippled substrate and the dot ordering is slightly less pronounced. This finding confirms the beneficial influence of the rippled substrate on the ordering of quantum dots in an amorphous matrix.