Monitoring the formation of Sb nanocrystals in $SiO2$ by grazing incidence x-ray techniques Available to Purchase

We investigate the formation, crystallinity, size, and depth distribution of Sb nanoclusters in thin $SiO2$ matrix by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) and reflectivity (GIXRR). The complementarity of these two techniques reveals the formation of Sb nanocrystals after a rapid thermal treatment at $1000 °C$ and their depth distribution. The implantation profile is found to have its maximum centered in the middle of the $SiO2$ layer. After thermal treatment, the Sb atom redistribution, monitored by the variation in the electron density profile obtained by GIXRR, corresponds to the formation of metallic Sb nanoclusters, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and GIXRD. The cluster distribution within the $SiO2$ layer presents a maximum at the center of the layer and their average diameter is $67±3 Å.$ The results are in agreement with TEM analyses.