Colloidal luminescent silicon nanorods.

Lu, Xiaotang; Hessel, Colin M; Yu, Yixuan; Bogart, Timothy D; Korgel, Brian A · Nano Lett · 2013

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

Silicon nanorods are grown by trisilane decomposition in hot squalane in the presence of tin (Sn) nanocrystals and dodecylamine. Sn induces solution-liquid-solid nanorod growth with dodecylamine serving as a stabilizing ligand. As-prepared nanorods do not luminesce, but etching with hydrofluoric acid to remove residual surface oxide followed by thermal hydrosilylation with 1-octadecene induces bright photoluminescence with quantum yields of 4-5%. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows that the ligands prevent surface oxidation for months when stored in air.