Optical and structural characterization of tungsten oxide electrodeposited on nanostructured porous silicon: Effect of annealing atmosphere and temperature

Abstract Optical and structural properties of tungsten oxide (WO 3 ), electrodeposited on luminescent nanostructured porous silicon (PS) have been investigated as a function of annealing atmosphere and temperature. Physical and optical properties of WO 3 /PS hybrid structures were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Our experimental results reveal that evolution of PL peak, corresponding to band edge emission of WO 3 , increases with annealing temperature under nitrogen atmosphere in contrast with air atmosphere. Rectifying behavior of WO 3 /PS structures exhibits a decrease by a factor of approximately 7 in the annealed sample as compared to as deposited samples under nitrogen conditions. Such composites have potential applications in diodes technology as well as in improving sensing/catalytic performance of WO 3 .