The nanostructure of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-germanium alloys, a-Si1-xGex:H (x=0.62 to 0.70), prepared by the
hot-wire deposition technique applying different substrate and filament temperatures was analyzed by anomalous small-angle
x-ray scattering experiments. For all alloys the Ge-component was found to be inhomogeneously distributed. The
results from the structural and quantitative analysis have been correlated to the material photoconductivity. A clear
improvement of the photoconductivity was achieved by optimizing the substrate temperature (between 130 and 360 °C)
due to the reduction of hydrogen containing voids in coincidence with the formation of mass fractal structures of Ge
with the fractal dimension p < 1.6 and a size of about 40 nm. The two processes cause the structural re-organization of
Hydrogen from voids into Ge-fractals with enhanced Ge-H bonding, thereby improving the material photoconductivity.
Laser spectroscopical methods as Raman scattering (RS) and Photoluminescence as well as Small Angle Scattering of Xrays (SAXS) are presented as powerful tools for the efficient, nondestructive and contact-less characterization of nanoparticles of low concentration (< 1% in volume) in solids in dependence on the history of thermal treatment. The complementary determination of size distribution of CdSxSe1-x nanocrystallites in silicate glass filters and of arsenic precipitates in low-temperature grown GaAs layers by RS and SAXS is exemplarily presented.
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