Enhancement of the photoluminescence of porous silicon by sputter deposition of semitransparent metal films

Optoelectronic devices based on porous silicon (PS) undergo substantial degradation in luminescence with aging due to atmospheric oxidation. The passivation of PS has been reported with a transparent conducting material or a semi-transparent metal. In this paper, we report enhancement of the photoluminescence (PL) of PS by the passivation of PS with ultrathin metal films such as silver (Ag), aluminum (Al), and gold (Au). It has been found that Ag and Au are respectively most and least effective in enhancing the PL of PS among those three different metals. The highest PL enhancing effect of Ag is mostly attributed to the high electrical conductivity of Ag, whereas the lowest PL enhancing effect of Au is due to the lowest optical transmittance of Au. The details of the PL enhancing effect of metal passivation are discussed with the aid of FTIR analysis results.