The optical constants of amorphous silicon nanostructures

There is of great importance to know the values of the optical constants of materials due to their relationship with the optical properties and then with their practical applications. For this reason, it was proposed to study the optical constants of amorphous silicon nanostructures (quantum well, quantum wire, and quantum dot) because of their importance in the world of optical applications. In this study, it was adopted the Herve and Vandamme (HV) model of the refractive index because it was found that this model has very good optical properties for almost all semiconductors. Also, it was carried out by applying experimental results for the energy gaps of these three nanostructures, which makes the results of the theoretical calculations that were more realistic. The optical constants were studied as a function of the energy of the spectrum, which ranged from the ultraviolet region to the infrared region. The sizes of the three nanostructures ranged from 1nm to 10nm. There are two important factors in determining the results, namely, the increase in the degree of quantum confinement of nanostructures and the decrease in the size of these structures, as it is noted that the absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient, and the dielectric constant decrease by the influence of these two factors, taking into account the shifting of energy for each of these constants.