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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
Quantum confinement by an order-disorder boundary in nanocrystalline silicon
L Bagolini1, A Mattoni, G Fugallo
1Dipartimento di Energetica, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Via A. Scarpa 1416, 00161 Roma, Italy.
Abstract:
We predict theoretically and show experimentally the occurrence of quantum confinement in hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon. We prove that only valence states (positively charged carriers) are confined effectively within the nanograins. The emission associated to confined states is verified by photoluminescence experiments on nanocrystalline samples with controlled grain size. According to the present study, we propose nanocrystalline silicon as a promising material for oxygen-free optoelectronics, silicon-based memories and photovoltaics.
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