Photon-induced conduction modulation in SiO2 thin films embedded with Ge nanocrystals

• Main Authors: Tan, M. C., Ding, Liang, Chen, Tupei, Yang, Ming, Wong, Jen It, Liu, Yang, Yu, Siu Fung, Zhu, Fu Rong, Fung, Stevenson Hon Yuen, Tung, Chih Hang, Trigg, Alastair David
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Nanoelectronics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/90603; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/6424
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The authors report the photon-induced conduction modulation in SiO2 thin films embedded with germanium nanocrystals (nc-Ge). The conduction of the oxide could be switched to a higher- or lower-conductance state by a ultraviolet (UV) illumination. The conduction modulation is caused by charging and discharging in the nc-Ge due to the UV illumination. If the charging process is dominant, the oxide conductance is reduced; however, if the discharging process is dominant, the oxide conductance is increased. As the conduction can be modulated by UV illumination, it could have potential applications in silicon-based optical memory devices.