Uniformly distributed polycrystalline indium nanohillocks were synthesized on silicon substrates with Au catalyst by using the radio frequency magnetic sputtering technique. The results show that the Au catalyst plays a key role in the formation of indium nanohillocks. After thermally oxidizing the indium nanohillocks at 500C in air for 5h, the indium nanohillocks totally transform into In2O3 nanohillocks. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy result indicates that many oxygen vacancies and oxygen—indium vacancy pairs exist in the In2O3 nanohillocks. Photoluminescence spectra under an Ne laser excitation at 280nm show broad emissions at 420 and 470nm with a shoulder at 450nm related to oxygen vacancies and oxygen-indium vacancies at room temperature.

Fabrication and Photoluminescence Characteristics of In2O3 Nanohillocks. H.L.Wei, L.Zhang, Z.L.Liu, K.L.Yao: Chinese Physics B, 2011, 20[11], 118102