Structure and photoluminescent properties of a ZnS/Si nanoheterostructure based on a silicon nanoporous pillar array

Abstract

A silicon nanoporous pillar array (Si-NPA) is a silicon hierarchical structure with regularly patterned surface morphology. Through a heterogeneous reaction process, the nanocrystallites of zinc sulfide (nc-ZnS) were grown onto the Si-NPA and a uniquely patterned core/shell nanoheterostructure array (ZnS/Si-NPA) was obtained. The pillars of the ZnS/Si-NPA were constructed by an outermost shell of a nc-ZnS membrane, an innermost core of a nanoporous silicon pillar and an interface with nc-ZnS embedded into an amorphous SiO2 matrix. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the ZnS/Si-NPA showed that in addition to the two blue PL bands peaked at ∼412 and ∼491 nm observed in the Si-NPA, a green PL band at ∼537 nm was observed in the ZnS/Si-NPA when it was excited by 300 nm ultraviolet light. Based on these experimental results, the two blue PL bands of the ZnS/Si-NPA came from a Si-NPA substrate, while the green PL band was attributed to the emission from the surface states of sulfur vacancies of nc-ZnS. The broad PL from blue to red in the visible region realized in the ZnS/Si-NPA might be applied in solid-state lighting devices with white light emission.