A Novel Chemical Gas Vapor Sensor Based on Photoluminescence Enhancement of Rugate Porous Silicon Filters

• Main Authors: Zicheng Zhou, Honglae Sohn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: reflection; photoluminescence; porous silicon; rugate; organic vapor
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/9/2722

In this study, an innovative rugate filter configuration porous silicon (PSi) with enhanced photoluminescence intensity was fabricated. The fabricated PSi exhibited dual optical properties with both sharp optical reflectivity and sharp photoluminescence (PL), and it was developed for use in organic vapor sensing. When the wavelength of the resonance peak from the rugate PSi filters is engineered to overlap with the emission band of the PL from the PSi quantum dots, the PL intensity is amplified, thus reducing the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the PL band from 154 nm to 22 nm. The rugate PSi filters samples were fabricated by electrochemical etching of highly doped n-type silicon under illumination. The etching solution consisted of a 1:1 volume mixture of 48% hydrofluoric acid and absolute ethanol and photoluminescent rugate PSi filter was fabricated by etching while using a periodic sinusoidal wave current with 10 cycles. The obtained samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and both reflection redshift and PL quenching were measured under exposure to organic vapors. The reflection redshift and PL quenching were both affected by the vapor pressure and dipole moment of the organic species.