Zintl Clusters as Wet‐Chemical Precursors for Germanium Nanomorphologies with Tunable Composition |
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Authors: | Manuel M Bentlohner Dr Markus Waibel Patrick Zeller Dr Kuhu Sarkar Prof Dr Peter Müller‐Buschbaum Priv‐Doz Dr Dina Fattakhova‐Rohlfing Prof Dr Thomas F Fässler |
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Institution: | 1. Department Chemie, Technische Universit?t München, Garching, Germany;2. University of Munich (LMU) and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), München, Germany;3. Physik-Department, Lehrstuhl für Funktionelle Materialien, Technische Universit?t München, Garching, Germany |
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Abstract: | Ge9]4? Zintl clusters are used as soluble germanium source for a bottom–up fabrication of Ge nanomorphologies such as inverse opal structures with tunable composition. The method is based on the assembly and oxidation of Ge9]4? clusters in a template mold using SiCl4, GeCl4, and PCl3 leading to Si and P‐containing Ge phases as shown by X‐ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis. Ge9]4? clusters are retained using ethylenediamine (en) as a transfer medium to a mold after removal of the solvent if water is thoroughly excluded, but are oxidized to amorphous Ge in presence of water traces. 1H NMR spectroscopy reveals the oxidative deprotonation of en by Ge9]4?. Subsequent annealing leads to crystalline Ge. As an example for wet‐chemical synthesis of complex Ge nanomorphologies, we describe the fabrication of undoped and P‐doped inverse opal‐structured Ge films with a rather low oxygen contents. The morphology of the films with regular volume porosity is characterized by SEM, TEM, and grazing incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering. |
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Keywords: | composition tuning germanium inverse opals nanostructuring zintl clusters |
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