Broadband visible emission from photoelectrochemical etched porous silicon quantum dots containing zinc

Abstract

The broadband visible photoluminescence (PL) from photoelectrochemical etched porous silicon quantum dots (PSi-QDs) containing zinc (Zn) powder is reported. The influence of the Zn content (0, 0.11, 0.17, and 0.25 g) on the structure, morphology, and room-temperature PL characteristics of the PSi-QDs were evaluated. The PSi-QDs were prepared in HF:ethanol solution by electrochemical etching of n-type Si at the optimum etching time and current density with varying masses of added Zn powder. The PL spectra of the as-prepared samples exhibited a broad emission peak in the region of 510–760 nm with the highest intensity at approximately 657 nm. The inclusion of Zn powder in the PSi-QDs was observed to enhance the PL peak intensity by a factor of seven. The improved visible light emitting traits were attributed to the quantum confinement (QC) effect, which widened the energy band gap (1.12–2.5 eV) of the Zn-included PSi-QDs. The present findings may contribute to the development of PSi-QD-based red phosphors and other optoelectronic applications. EDX and FESEM analysis showed that porous silicon etched with Zn mass is mainly composed of oxygen, fluoride, zinc, and silicon.