Origin of Analyte-Induced Porous Silicon Photoluminescence Quenching.

We report on gaseous analyte-induced photoluminescence (PL) quenching of porous silicon, as-prepared (ap-pSi) and oxidized (ox-pSi). By using steady-state and emission wavelength-dependent time-resolved intensity luminescence measurements in concert with a global analysis scheme, we find that the analyte-induced quenching is best described by a three-component static quenching model. In the model, there are blue, green, and red emitters (associated with the nanocrystallite core and surface trap states) that each exhibit unique analyte-emitter association constants and these association constants are a consequence of differences in the pSi surface chemistries.

Instrumentation for Reliably Determining Porous Silicon Photoluminescence Responses to Gaseous Analyte Vapors.

We report new instrumentation for rapidly and reliably measuring the temperature-dependent photoluminescence response from porous silicon as a function of analyte vapor concentration. The new system maintains the porous silicon under inert conditions and it allows on-the-fly steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence intensity and hyper-spectral measurements between 293 K and 450 K. The new system yields reliable data at least 100-fold faster in comparison to previous instrument platforms.