Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
CdSexTe1-x nanoparticles (with different stoichiometry ratio x) dispersed in silicon dioxide films have been grown by magnetron sputtering technique followed by thermal annealing. Effect of thermal annealing conditions on the structural, compositional, optical and electronic properties of nanoparticles has been studied using GAXRD, XPS, TEM, and spectroscopic ellipsometry techniques. A structural transformation in the nanoparticle core mediated purely by surface layer effects in the case of CdTe and a spontaneous self-organization of nanoparticles into nanorods in the case of CdSe via fractal growth has been observed. Preliminary observations from the ellipsometry measurements carried out on some of these nanoparticle films shows a blue shift of absorption edge.