Growth and Photoluminescence of β-SiC Nanowires on Porous Silicon Array

Nonaligned and curly β-SiC nanowires (nw-SiC) were grown on porous silicon array (PSA) by a chemical vapor deposition method with nickel as the catalyst. The morphology, structure and the composition of the nw-SiC/PSA and the SiC-SiO2 core-shell fibers which is the semi-product were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Based on the experimental results a possible growth mechanism of nw-SiC was explained. Two broad photoluminescence peaks located around ~409 and ~494 nm were observed in nw-SiC/PSA in the PL measurement when utilizing 300 nm ultraviolet fluorescent light excited at room temperature. The excellent luminescent performances are ascribed to the quantum confinement effects in nw-SiC. The optical merits of nw-SiC/PSA made it a promising material in the fields of ultraviolet-blue emitting devices.