Oxidation of bismuth nanodroplets deposit on GaAs substrate

Bismuth nanodroplets on GaAs substrate were obtained by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). New products have been synthesized when Bi nanodroplets are heated under oxygen atmosphere. The oxidation process of Bi nanodroplets consists of a heating from the room temperature to different oxidation temperatures (350, 500, 600 ^°C) with a temperature rate of 14 ^°C/min. The annealing duration was fixed to 30 min. The presence of oxygen in the products was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) measurements using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). SEM images show that Bi microcomposites density decrease and their size increases with increasing annealing temperature. After X-ray diffraction analysis of the products no obvious peaks could be observed. The reflectance spectra of the products were studied in spectral domains ranged from 200 nm to 1100 nm. By fitting the reflectivity signal, we extracted the thickness of the products and their refractive index variation versus wavelength. The results show that the thickness of the samples increases with increasing annealing temperature. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra under excitation at 325 nm shows a broad emission centered at around 1.92 eV.