Passivation of dangling bonds in amorphous Si and Ge by gas adsorption

Comparative Passivation of Si(100) by H2 and D2 Atmospheres under Simultaneous Xe+ Bombardment: An X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Analysis

This study presents a comparison of H2 and D2 passivation on Si(100) under simultaneous Xe+ ion bombardment. The impact of Xe+ ions causes significant damage to the substrate surface, leading to an increase in H2 (D2) retention as Si-H (Si-D) bonds. The ion bombardment conditions are precisely controlled using a Kaufman ion gun. The atomic concentrations on the surface of the sample were investigated by quasi-in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A simple methodology is employed to estimate the H (D) chemical concentration and the cover ratio of the sample, with regard to the oxygen concentration through residual water chemisorption present in the vacuum vessel. Differences in passivation are expected when using H2 or D2 atmospheres because their retained scission energies and physisorption properties differ. The results indicate an increase of the sticking coefficient for D2 and H2 under the ion bombardment. It is also found that the flux of H2 (D2) impinging on the surface contributes to play an important role in the whole process. Finally, a model is proposed to describe the phenomenon of the passivation of Si under Xe+ ion bombardment in the presence of H2 (D2).

Chemisorption Competition between H2O and H2 for Sites on the Si Surface under Xe+ Ion Bombardment: An XPS Study

This paper reports the competition of H₂O (residual) and H₂ by site (defects) on the Si surface, created by Xe⁺ ion bombardment. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in an ultrahigh vacuum system attached to the sample preparation chamber provided the data for the analyses. As hydrogen cannot be detected by XPS, an indirect method to evaluate the O and H cover ratio was developed. The hydrogen passivation effect obtained by the formation of the Si-H bond due to H₂ chemisorption limits Si-OH and Si-O-Si bonds, which are products of H₂O dissociation. In addition, the results have shown that Xe⁺ ion bombardment diminished the H₂ chemisorption energy barrier onto Si.

Silica-Derived Hydrophobic Colloidal Nano-Si for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Silica can be converted to silicon by magnesium reduction. Here, this classical reaction is renovated for more efficient preparation of silicon nanoparticles (nano-Si). By reducing the particle size of the starting materials, the reaction can be completed within 10 min by mechanical milling at ambient temperature. The obtained nano-Si with high surface reactivity are directly reacted with 1-pentanol to form an alkoxyl-functionalized hydrophobic colloid, which significantly simplifies the separation process and minimizes the loss of small Si particles. Nano-Si in 5 g scale can be obtained in one single batch with laboratory scale setups with very high yield of 89%. Utilizing the excellent dispersion in ethanol of the alkoxyl-functionalized nano-Si, surface carbon coating can be readily achieved by using ethanol soluble oligomeric phenolic resin as the precursor. The nano-Si after carbon coating exhibit excellent lithium storage performance comparable to the state of the art Si-based anode materials, featured for the high reversible capacity of 1756 mAh·g^-1 after 500 cycles at a current density of 2.1 A·g^-1. The preparation approach will effectively promote the development of nano-Si-based anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Relationship between structural changes, hydrogen content and annealing in stacks of ultrathin Si/Ge amorphous layers

Hydrogenated multilayers (MLs) of a-Si/a-Ge have been analysed to establish the reasons of H release during annealing that has been seen to bring about structural modifications even up to well-detectable surface degradation. Analyses carried out on single layers of a-Si and a-Ge show that H is released from its bond to the host lattice atom and that it escapes from the layer much more efficiently in a-Ge than in a-Si because of the smaller binding energy of the H-Ge bond and probably of a greater weakness of the Ge lattice. This should support the previous hypothesis that the structural degradation of a-Si/a-Ge MLs primary starts with the formation of H bubbles in the Ge layers.