Direct Evaluation of the Quantum Confinement Effect in Single Isolated Ge Nanocrystals

To address the yet open question regarding the nature of quantum confinement in Ge nanocrystals (Ge NCs) we employed scanning tunneling spectroscopy to monitor the electronic structure of individual isolated Ge NCs as a function of their size. The (single-particle) band gaps extracted from the tunneling spectra increase monotonically with decreasing nanocrystal size, irrespective of the capping ligands, manifesting the effect of quantum confinement. Band-gap widening of ∼1 eV with respect to the bulk value was observed for Ge-NCs 3 nm in diameter. The picture emerging from comparison with theoretical calculations and other experimental results is discussed.