Ion-beam synthesis of InSb nanocrystals at the Si/SiO₂ interface

The formation of InSb nanocrystals at the bonding Si/SiO₂ interface of silicon-on-insulator structure was obtained as a result of the In and Sb atom diffusion from the ion-implanted SiO₂ and Si regions, respectively, toward the interface. After the annealing at 1000 °C, the Raman scattering peaks corresponding to the transverse and longitudinal optical phonon mode in the monocrystalline InSb matrix were obtained. As the annealing temperature grew to 1100 °C, the transverse optical phonon mode vanished and the longitudinal optical phonon mode dominated in the spectrum. This effect is explained by matching InSb and Si lattice constants under ion-beam synthesis conditions.