IMPROVED PHOTOLUMINESCENCE FROM LIGHT-EMITTING SILICON MATERIAL BY SURFACE MODIFICATION

A light-emitting silicon material was prepared by electrochemical etching of n-Si single crystal wafers in a solution of hydrofluoric acid and ethanol. Visible photoluminescence from the silicon was inhomogeneous and decayed rapidly in the ambient laboratory conditions or with photoirradiation. Substantial improvements in photoluminescence which include little-dependent luminescence peak energy with excitation energy variation and longer-lasting room temperature visible photoluminescence were achieved when the surface of photoluminescent silicon material was derivatized with the surface modifier of octadecylmercaptan. Surface modification of the photoluminescent silicon was evidenced by the measurements of contact angles of static water drops, FT-IR spectra and XPS data, in addition to changed photoluminescence. Similar improvements in photoluminescence were observed with the light-emitting silicon treated with dodecylmercaptan, but not with octadecane. The present results indicate that sulfurs of octadecylmercaptans or dodecylmercaptans appear to coordinate the surface Si atoms of LESi and perturb the surface states to significantly change the luminescent characteristics of LESi.