Visible and IR photoluminescence of c-FeSi@a–Si core–shell nano-fibres produced by vapour transport

The procedures for the synthesis of amorphous ε-FeSi/Si core–shell nanofibres by vapour transport in a CVD configuration are reported. Crystallite studies by the Williamson-Hall method show the sizes to be typically about 8.0 nm which agrees with TEM value of 7.9 nm fibre diameter with a compressive strain of about 0.04. Features in the photoluminescence of these FeSi core–shells in both visible and IR are at 410 nm, 1062 nm, 1414 nm and 1772 nm and absorption feature at 1000 cm−1 from FTIR are explained from density functional theory (DFT) ab initio calculations. PL confirms the intra-band transition whereas FTIR agrees perfectly with the band-to-band transition whose band gap energy is 0.13 eV for FeSi. FTIR also unveils inter-band transition which DFT calculation could not predict. Raman spectroscopy data confirm FeSi and nano-Si presence.