Fig. 1

Growth of P-GQDs by qe-PECVD. a Schematic illustrations of the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system. b–g Atomic force microscope (AFM) images of samples grown at 580 °C, 605 °C, 615 °C, 620 °C, 625 °C and 650 °C, respectively. h The diameter distribution of the P-GQD-2 sample. i Relationship between grain size, nuclei density and temperature. j Quasi-equilibrium, critical equilibrium and non-equilibrium states at different temperatures. The scale bars in b–g are 500 nm