Fabrication and optical properties of silicon nanopillars

The optical properties of ordered arrays of silicon nanopillars (Si NPs) were investigated. Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching (ICP-RIE) was used for Si NPs fabrication. Si NPs were chemically and electrically passivated through the deposition of TiONx nanolayer. The silicon nanopillars were characterized by using scanned electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). We demonstrate that a various colors can be obtained by exploiting the resonant light scattering properties of individual Si NP. In addition the low temperature photoluminescence from Si NPs was investigated. The peak photoluminescence energy was observed at 0.83 μm and 1.14 μm. Raman scattering enhancement was found too.