Formation and structure of Sn nanoclusters in thin SiO2 films

The increasing interest in low-dimensional materials is based on both fundamental and technological issues. Recently, Sn nanoclusters have been proposed as potential candidates for charge storage. However, a better understanding of formation and properties of nanocrystals is required for their technological applications. Sn nanoclusters have been formed in thin SiO2 films by ion implantation (80 KeV, 1x1016 cm-2) and annealing at different temperatures. The high brilliance of third generation sources at high energies makes it feasible to perform Sn K edge spectroscopy on these systems in which the Sn concentration is at the detection limit for XAS. In particular, we have used fluorescence - detected XAS at the GILDA beamline of the ESRF to probe the local structure of the implanted Sn atoms. Complementary structural information have been obtained by 119Sn Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy (CEMS) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). XAS has provided unique information on the local environment of Sn nanoclusters in the SiO2 with respect to different annealing conditions. Sn ions are fully oxidized in the as-implanted state, while after annealing also the ß-Sn phase is found.
By comparing XAS data with CEMS and TEM we concluded that the metallic ß-Sn phase is related to the bigger crystalline nanoclusters formed after annealing, while the oxidized Sn is present in the matrix as dissolved SnO or as small oxide precipitates.