Silicon nanocrytallines composite sol-gel rod for optical applications

Nanocrystallines silicon (NCs Si) powders of heterogeneous sizes were uniformly dispersed in some solvents. Different quantity of NCs Si powder (0.00150/0.0012/0.0070) g was taken in the 10 ml of solvents to identify the effect of photoluminescence property. The NCs Si solution was directly incorporated in sol-gel matrix and developed nanocomposite rods. Light emitting from NCs Si solutions and nanocomposite rods were detected by exposing UV light. Optical properties of the NCs Si solution and nanocomposite rod were systematically studied using different characterization techniques. The effect on the properties of NCs Si in the environment of sol-gel matrix was studied. The significant change in absorption and emission property of NCs Si solution is observed when embedded in sol-gel matrix. The predicted band gap 2.8 eV of NCs Si in solution was changed to 3.63 eV when it is included in solid matrix. Crystalline structures of different sizes of NCs Si are identified by XRD and TEM. Well presence and distribution of NCs Si in the sol-gel surface were revealed by SEM images and EDX spectra. Spontaneous emissions (SE) of NCs Si solution and nanocomposite sol-gel rods were tested using third harmonic 355 nm laser source of a pico second tunable laser system. The enhanced SE signal from the nanocomposite solid rod is quite significant, which indicates that SE signal may enable to increase if highly packed NCs Si colloidal solution employ in sol-gel rod. The fabrication of light emitting composite solid rod may use as a solid state active medium for the ASE testing in the future work.

[1]      S. Hayashi, K. Yamamoto, Optical properties of Si-rich SiO2 films in relation with embedded Si mesoscopic particles, J Lumin, 70, 352-363, 1996.

[2]     L. T. Canham, Silicon quantum wire array fabrication by electrochemical and chemical dissolution of wafers, Appl. Phys. Let, 57, 1046, 1990.

[3]     B. S. Kim, D. I. Kim, C. W. Lee, Photoluminescence from nano silicon materials prepared by photoelectro chemical methods, J. Korean. Phys. Soc., 38, 245, 2001.

[4]     U. Gosele, V. Lehmann, Light emitting porous silicon, Mater. Chem. Phys, 40, 253, 1995.

[5]      W. C. Chan, S. Nie, Quantum dot bioconjugates for ultrasensitive non-isotopic detection, Science, 281, 2016, 1998.

[6]     M. Bruchez, Jr. M. Moronne, P. Gin, S. Weiss, A. P. Alivisatos, Semiconductor nanocrystals as fluorescent biological labels, Science, 281, 2013, 1998.

[7]      T. D. Lacoste, X. Michalet, F. Pinaud, D. Chemla, A. P. Alivisatos, S. Weiss, Ultrahigh resolution multicolor colocalization of single fluorescent probes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.  97, 9461, 2000.

[8]     X. Michalet, F. F. Pinaud, L. A. Bentolia, J. M. Tsay, S. Doose, J. J. Li, G. Sundaresan,  A. M. Wu,  S. S. Gambhir, S. Weiss, Quantum dots for live cells, in vivo imaging, and Diagnostics, Science, 307, 538, 2005.

[9]     J. K. Jaiswal, S. M. Simon, Potentials and pitfalls of fluorescent quantum dots for biological Imaging, Trends Cell Biology, 14, 49, 2004.

[10]   M. N. Khan, A. S. Al Dwayyan, Influence of solvent on the physical and lasing properties of dye- doped sol gel host, J. Lumin. 128, 1767, 2008.

[11]    S. Yang, W. Cai, G. Liu, H. Zeng, P. Liu, Optical study of redox behavior of silicon induced by laser ablation in liquid, J. Phys. Chem. C, 113, 6480, 2009.

[12]    V. Parkhutic, Porous silicon mechanisms of growth and applications, Solid State Electron, 43, 1121, 1999.

[13]    D. Dimova-Malinovska, Application of stain-etched porous silicon in light emitting diodes and solar cells, J. Lumin, 80, 352, 1999.

[14]    A. W. Fang, R. Jones, H. Park, O. Cohen, M. Paniccia, J. E. Bowers, Integrated

AlGaInAs-silicon evanescent race track laser and photodetector, Opt. Express, 15, 2315, 2007.

[15]    M. N. Khan, M.M. A Khan, A.S. Al Dwayyan, J.P. Labis, Comparative Study on Electronic, Emission, Spontaneous Property of Porous Silicon in Different Solvents, J. Nanomater. Article ID 682571, 2014.

[16]    L. Pavesi, Routes towards a silicon-based laser, Mater. Today, 8, 18, 2005.

[17]    Lalic N, J. Linnros, Light emitting diode structure based on Si nanocrystals formed by implantation into thermal oxide, J. Lumin. 80, 263, 1998.

[18]    R. J. Walters, G. I. Bourianoff, H. A. Atwater, Field-effect electroluminescence in silicon nanocrystals, Nat. Mater, 4, 143, 2005.

[19]    Z.X. Ma, X.B. Liao, W.C. Cheng, G.Z. Yue, Y.Q. Wang, G.L. Kong, Annealing behaviors of photoluminescence from SiOx:H, J. Appl. Phys. 83, 7934, 1998.

[20]   Y.Q. Wang, G.L. Kong, W.D. Chen, H.W. Diao, C.Y. Chen, S.B. Zhang, X.B. Liao, Getting high-e?ciency photoluminescence from Si nanocrystals in SiO₂ matrix, Appl. Phys. Lett.  81, 4174, 2002.

[21]    T. Shimizu-Iwayama, K. Fujita, S. Nakao, K. Saitoh, T. Fujita, Visible photolumi- nescence in Si+implanted silica glass, J. Appl. Phys. 75, 7779, 1994.

[22]   N. Lalic, J. Linnros, Light emitting diode structure based on Si nanocrystals formed by implantation into thermal oxide, J. Lumin, 80, 263, 1999.

 [23]   J.G. Zhu, C.W. White, J.D. Budai, S.P. Withrow, Y. Chen, Growth of Ge, Si, and SiGe nanocrystals in SiO₂ matrices, J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 78, 4386, 1995.

[24]   V. Vinciguerra, G. Franz?, F. Priolo, F. Iacona, C. Spinella, Quantum con?nement and recombination dynamics in silicon nanocrystals embedded in Si/SiO₂ super- lattices, J. Appl. Phys. 87, 8165, 2000.

 [25] F. Gourbilleau, X. Portier, C. Ternon, P. Voivenel, R. Madelon, R. Rizk, Si-rich/SiO₂ nanostructured multilayers by reactive magnetron sputtering, Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 3058, 2001.

[26]   E. Werwa, A. A. Seraphin, L.A. Chiu, C. Zhou, K.D. Kolenbrander, Synthesis and processing of silicon nanocrystallites using a pulsed laser ablation supersonic expansion method, Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 1821, 1994.

 [27] R.J. Walters, G.I. Bouriano?, H.A. Atwater, Field e ? ect electroluminescence in silicon nanocrystals, Nat. Mater. 4. 143, 2005.

 [28] G. Franz, A. Irrera, E.C. Moreira, M. Miritello, F. Iacona, D. San?lippo, G. Di Stefano, P.G. Fallica, F. Priolo, Electroluminescence of silicon nanocrystals in MOS structures, Appl. Phys. A: Mater. Sci. Process.  A74, 1, 2002.

[29] Y.Q. Wang, Y.G. Wang, L. Cao, Z.X. Cao, High-e?ciency visible photoluminescence from amorphous silicon nanoparticles embedded in silicon nitride, Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 3474, 2003.

[30]   L. Zhang, J.L. Co?er, T.W. Zerda, Properties of luminescent Si nanoparticles in sol gel matrices, J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol. 11, 267–272, 1998.

[31]    V. Svrcek, I. Pelant, J. L. Rehspringer, P. Gilliot, D. Ohlmann, O. Cregut, B. Honerlage, T. Chvojka, J. Valenta, Dian photoluminescence properties of sol–gel derived SiO layers doped with porous silicon, Mater. Sci. Eng. C, 19, 233–236, 2002.

[32]   Y. Posada, L.S. Miguel, O. Resto, S.Z. Weisz, C.H. Kim, J. Shinar, Optical properties of nanocrystalline silicon within silica gel monoliths, J. Appl. Phys. 96, 2240, 2004. 

[33]   A.Y. Karlash, Y.E. Zakharko, V.A. Skryshevsky, A.I. Tsiganova, G.V. Kuznetsov, Photoluminescence properties of silica aerogel/porous silicon nanocomposites, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 43, 335, 2010.

[34]   J. Amonkosolpan, D. Wolverson, B. Goller, S. Polisski, D. Kovalev, M. Rollings, D.W.G.M. Grogan, T.A. Birks, Porous silicon nanocrystals in a silica aero gel matrix, Nanoscale Res. Lett. 7, 397, 2012.

[35]   E. Borsella, M. Falconieri, S. Botti, S. Martelli, F. Bignoli, L. Costa, S. Grandi, L. Sangaletti, B. Allieri, L. Depero, Optical and morphological characterization of Si nanocrystals/silica composites prepared by sol–gel processing, Mater. Sci. Eng, B79, 55, 2001.

 [36] A. S. Al Dwayyan, M. N. Khan, M. S. Al Salhi, Optical Characterization of Chemically Etched Nanoporous Silicon Embedded in Sol Gel Matrix, J. Nanomater, 2012, Articles ID 713203, 2012.

[37]   M. N. Khan, A. S. Al Dwayyan, M. S. Al Hossain, Morphology and Optical Properties of a Porous Silicon-Doped Sol-Gel Host, Electron. Mater. Lett, 9, 697-703, 2013.

[38]   M. N. Khan, A. Aldalbahi, A. alMohammedi, Investigation of Different Colloidal Porous Silicon Solutions and Their Composite Solid Matrix Rods by Optical Techniques, Journal of ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, 47, 3596, 2018.

 [39] M. N. Khan, A. Aldalbahi, A. S. Al Dwayyan, Composite rods based on nanoscale porous silicon in sol–gel silica and ormosil matrices for light-emitting applications, J Sol-Gel Sci Technol, 82, 551–562, 2017.

[40]   M. N. Khan, A.S. Al Dwayyan, A. Aldalbahi, Light emitting composite rods based on porous silicon in ormosils and polymer matrices for optical applications, Optics & Laser Technology, 9, 203–211, 2017.

[41]    M.N. Khan, A. S. Al Dwayyan, M. S. Al Salhi, M. Al Hoshan, Study on characteristics of silicon nanocrystals. within sol–gel host, J Expt. Nanosci., 7, 120, 2012.

[42]   M. N. Khan, A. S. Al Dwayyan, Influence on structural and PL property of nanocrystals silicon doped sol gel matrix, J Optoelectron Adv Mat, 14, 448, 2012.

[43] M. A. Khan, S. Kumar, M. N. Khan, M. Ahamed, A. S. Al Dwayyan, Microstructure and blueshift in optical band gap of nanocrystalline Al_x Zn _1-xO thin, J. Lumin., 155, 275, 2014.

[44]     W. Z Yong, L. K. Xin, R. X Tang, Relative enhancement of photoluminescence intensity of passivated silicon nanocrystals in silicon dioxide matrix, Chin. Phy. B, 21, 9, 097804, 2012.