Space-charge spectroscopy was employed to study electronic structure in a stack of four layers of Ge quantum dots coherently embedded in an n-type Si (001) matrix. Evidence for an electron confinement in the vicinity of Ge dots was found. From the frequency-dependent measurements the electron binding energy was determined to be ~50 meV, which is consistent with the results of numerical analysis. The data are explained by a modification of the conduction band alignment induced by inhomogeneous tensile strain in Si around the buried Ge dots.
Si quantum dots embedded in an amorphous SiC matrix: nanophase control by non-equilibrium plasma hydrogenation