Photoluminescence studies of ZnO/porous silicon nanocomposites

• Published in: Journal of physics. D, Applied physics Vol. 40; no. 10; pp. 3090 - 3093
• Main Authors: Singh, R G, Singh, Fouran, Agarwal, V, Mehra, R M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 21.05.2007; Institute of Physics
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Exact sciences and technology; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Physics; Atomic force microscopy; Annealing; Porous materials; Photoluminescence; Visible spectra; XRD; Surface topography; Thin films; Zinc oxides; Pore size; Nanocomposites; Anodizing; Spin-on coating; Silicon; Sol-gel process; Defect formation; Nanocrystal
• ISSN: 0022-3727; 1361-6463
• DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/40/10/012

This paper reports on the intense broadband photoluminescence (PL) emission from the ZnO/porous silicon nanocomposite films. The porous silicon (PS) samples were formed by electrochemical anodization on p-type (1 0 0) silicon wafer and ZnO thin films are deposited by the sol-gel spin coating technique in the pores of PS. The average pore size of PS samples is 30 nm. The glancing angle x-ray diffraction pattern of as-deposited and annealed films shows that the quality of (0 0 2) oriented ZnO nanocrystallites improves with annealing at moderate temperature and are polycrystalline in nature. The average crystallize size was found to be 40 nm. The surface topography of the ZnO/PS nanocomposite films has been studied using atomic force microscopy. The mechanism and interpretation of broadband PL from 400 to 900 nm of the nanocomposites are discussed using oxygen-bonding and native defects models for PS and ZnO, respectively. These nanocomposite films could be used as a source of broadband luminescence across most of the visible spectrum.