Optimization of photoluminescence properties of Porous silicon by adding gold nanoparticles

In this work, the photoluminescence spectra (PL) of porous silicon (PS) have been modified by adding gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to PS layer. PS was produced via Photo electro-chemical etching (PECE) method of n-type Si wafer with resistivity of about (10 Ω.cm) and (100) orientation. Laser wavelength of (630 nm) and illumination intensity of about (30 mW/cm^2), etching current density of (10mA/cm^2), and etching time of (4 min) were used during the etching process. The bare PS before metallic deposition process and porous silicon/gold nanoparticles (PS/AuNPs) structures were investigated by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX). The photoluminescence spectra were investigated as a function of gold nanoparticles sizes and distribution on the surface of PS. It was found that there are two behaviours were observed for the photoluminescence spectra of PS/AuNPs substrate; quenching and enhancement effects based on the average gold nanoparticles sizes and their aggregation forms.