Synthesis and photoluminescence properties of silicon nanowires treated by high-pressure water vapor annealing

This paper reports on silicon nanowires (SiNWs) growth on porous silicon (PS) template using vaporliquid-solid (VLS) technique and the effect of high-pressure water vapor annealing (HWA) on their optical properties. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with average mean diameter of 50 and 20 nm were used as catalysts. The SiNWs were obtained by thermal decomposition of silane gas (SiH ₄) at high temperature (540 °0C) catalyzed by the Au NPs. The resulting nanostructures display comparable diameter to the initial gold catalysts and are few microns long without a preferential growth direction. We have next examined the optical properties of the 20 nm diameter SiNWs. As-prepared SiNWs display a weak photoluminescence (PL), which is related to the recombination emissions from defect centers. High-pressure water vapor annealing (HWA) at 260 °C and 2.6 MPa of the SiNWs led to an increase of the PL by a factor 10 without significant changes in the emission band. TEM analysis of the HWA-treated SiNWs showed a crystalline silicon core surrounded by an amorphous oxide layer.