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Silicon nanocrystallites produced via a chemical etching method and photoluminescence properties

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Abstract

Silicon nanocrystallites (NCs) were fabricated via a simple and inexpensive method. The Si powders were chemically etched in the mixture of hydrofluoric and nitric acid, followed by the ultrasonic vibration in benzene, de-ionized water, or ethanol. The as-prepared Si particles feature two different sizes of ~2 and ~10 nm, respectively. The smaller particles are Si NCs suspended in the solvent, and the larger ones are several small Si NCs wrapped in amorphous shell. As excited with line of 340–420 nm, the suspensions display violet-blue emissions, which relate to the quantum confinement effect. The photoluminescence intensity of benzene suspension is the strongest and that of ethanol is the weakest.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Natural Science Foundation of Education Bureau of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. 12KJB140012) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BK20130453).

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Correspondence to Jun Zhu.

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Zhu, J., Wu, Yd., Li, Th. et al. Silicon nanocrystallites produced via a chemical etching method and photoluminescence properties. J Mater Sci 49, 4349–4353 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8131-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8131-5

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