Photoluminescence of porous silicon as an indicator of its interaction with nucleic acids

Changes in photoluminescence (PL) of porous silicon (PS), induced by treatment of its surface with nucleic acid solutions, were studied. It was found that such a treatment lead to an increase in PS PL intensity and shift of its peak to shorter wavelengths; the changes were shown to be dependent on the nucleic acid concentration in solution. Treatment with the solution of double-stranded DNA resulted in stronger change in PL than that caused by solution of single-stranded molecules of polynucleotide poly(A). Changes in the surface states of PS produced by the PS treatment with DNA solutions were investigated by means of infrared and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The observed changes were explained by the PS oxidation. The presence of the nucleic acids in the aqueous solution significantly accelerates the PS oxidation process. A possible mechanism of the polynucleotide effect on the PS PL was discussed.