The effect of surface treatment in polyacrylic acid solution on the photoluminescent properties of porous silicon

• Main Authors: Vladimir M. Kashkarov, Aleksandr S. Lenshin, Pavel V. Seredin, Dmitriy A. Minakov, Boris L. Agapov, Vladimir N. Tsipenyuk
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pensoft Publishers 2016-12-01
• Series: Modern Electronic Materials
• Subjects: Porous silicon; Nanomaterials; Electron structure; Photoluminescence
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452177917300166

Porous silicon (por-Si) has a unique combination of physicochemical parameters: well-developed surface and hence high sorption. Depending on technology it is possible to form nanometer size pores and clusters in porous silicon which makes this material promising for developments in the field of optoelectronics and sensors. However the high surface activity makes por-Si unstable when exposed to atmosphere. In this work we have studied the effect of por-Si surface treatment in a polyacrylic acid water solution on the composition and photoluminescence (PL) of the material. Por-Si was produced from two fluoric acid solutions. One was a standard solution of fluoric acid, isopropyl alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, and the other was a mixture of fluoric acid and dimethylformamide. We have shown that depending on por-Si technology, its treatment in polyacrylic acid solution allows increasing and stabilizing por-Si PL or changing PL band position and significantly increasing its integral intensity.