Correlation of excitation-wavelength dependent photoluminescence with the fractal microstructures of porous silicon

Abstract

The correlation of the excitation-wavelength dependent photoluminescence with the fractal microstructures of porous silicon has been investigated. As the excitation wavelength increases from 340 to 650 nm, the photoluminescence of porous silicon redshifts from 500 to 780 nm. The excitation-wavelength dependent photoluminescence suggests the existence of a size distribution for the large number of silicon nanocrystallites in porous silicon. Using scanning electron microscopy and computer simulation, we have investigated the fractal features of the microstructures of porous silicon. Our results have demonstrated that the fractal features in the microstructures of porous silicon indicate the existence of a size distribution for the silicon nanocrystallites in porous silicon. The recorded excitation-wavelength dependent photoluminescence of porous silicon can be interpreted in terms of the bond-order-length-strength correlation theory.