The Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 15 No 2 (2011): 227 – 231

 

 

 

PHOTOLUMINESCENCE OF POROUS SILICON PREPARED BY CHEMICAL ETCHING METHOD

 

(Fotoluminesen Poros Silikon Yang Disediakan Secara Punaran Kimia)

 

Dwight Tham Jern Ee, Chan Kok Sheng and M.I.N. Isa*

 

Department of Physics, Faculty Science and Technology

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu,

 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia 

 

*Corresponding author: ikmar_isa@umt.edu.my

 

 

Abstract

Recently, porous silicon (PS) was intensely studied by researcher due to its photoluminescence (PL), which has potential application in optoelectronic devices and sensor. In this work, the PS was prepared by chemical etching of  p-type silicon wafer where the etchant consist of mixture of hydrofluoric acid (HF) and nitric acid (HNO₃). The PS was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Photoluminescence Spectrometer. The porosity of the PS was in the range of (49-80) % and it is dependent on etching time. The peak of the PL ranges from 636 nm to 640 nm and the intensity of PL increase proportionally with the etching time. Band gap energy of PS was higher than silicon (1.11 eV) which is from 1.93 eV to 1.95 eV and the blue shift of the PL peak observed as the porosity increases.

 

Keywords: Porous Silicon, Chemical Etching, Photoluminescence

 

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