Dielectric function of Nanocrystalline Silicon with Few Nanometers (<3nm) grain size

The dielectric function of nanocrystalline silicon ~nc-Si! with crystallite size in the range of 1 to 3 nm has been determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the range of 1.5 to 5.5 eV. ATauc–Lorentz parameterization is used to model the nc-Si optical properties. The nc-Si dielectric function can be used to analyze nondestructively nc-Si thin films where nanocrystallites that cannot be detected by conventional structural techniques, such as x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, are embedded in an a-Si:H matrix. Ellipsometric results are corroborated by transmission electron microscopy measurements. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. @DOI: 10.1063/1.1569052#