Synthesis and properties of silicon quantum dots

Project funded by Swedish Research Council (Project grant), grant 2012-04374_VR. Participating organisations named by the source: KTH, Royal Institute of Technology. Funded amount: SEK 2,850,000, as stated by the source. Runs 2013-01-01 to 2015-12-31. Keywords: Teknik, Engineering and Technology, Elektroteknik och elektronik, Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering. Source: OpenAIRE Graph, from the funder's project data (collected by OpenAIRE on 2025-12-06); national funding data, not CORDIS. Abstract given by the source: This proposal is a continuation of a previous VR project focusing on the physics of silicon quantum dots. The quantum dots are formed by a top down approach using e-beam lithography, plasma etching and careful oxidation. The resulting regular arrays of quantum dots can be characterized by single-dot spectroscopy using a cooled CCD camera. So far we have demonstrated narrow emission lines at low temperatures, characterized on/off blinking, looked at phonon replicas in the spectra as well as additional lines for doped nanocrystals and finally measured exciton lifetimes of individual dots. In the continuation of the project we would like to use a combined AFM/PL spectroscopy system, newly installed in our lab. This will enable correlated studies of size and spectra for single quantum dots. Using a photon counting detector, we will also perform correlation spectroscopy and lifetime studies at different excitation regimes. Thus, we hope to characterize multi-exciton recombination characteristics and prove their existence by finely resolved spectral measurements. Open questions are the role of Auger recombination, the mechanisms for blinking as well as the ultimate limits of quantum efficiency. Finally, we would like to set up a new technique for fabrication ´en masse´ of silicon nanocrystals. This will pave the way for applications of Si quantum dots. The budget is based mainly on funding of one full PhD student and complementary funding of another student from a Linné centre.

Original source.

Source: OpenAIRE Graph: projects of national funders, OpenAIRE, from the project data of Swedish Research Council. Retrieved 2026-10-28. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (OpenAIRE Graph). Selected metadata, adapted presentation; the publisher's record is authoritative. No endorsement by the source is implied. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).

AI-assisted summary: The project "Synthesis and properties of silicon quantum dots" was funded by the Swedish Research Council with a grant of SEK 2,850,000, running from 2013 to 2015. It involves KTH, Royal Institute of Technology, and focuses on the physics and characterization of silicon quantum dots. Suggested technology pillar: sensing. Generated by AI from the public source text; it may contain errors and the original source is authoritative.