Temperature-dependent photoluminescence properties of porous fluorescent SiC

A comprehensive study of surface passivation effect on porous fluorescent silicon carbide (SiC) was carried out to elucidate the luminescence properties by temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The porous structures were prepared using an anodic oxidation etching method and passivated by atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al2O3 films. An impressive enhancement of PL intensity was observed in porous SiC with ALD Al2O3, especially at low temperatures. At temperatures below 150 K, two prominent PL emission peaks located at 517 nm and 650 nm were observed. The broad emission peak at 517 nm was attributed to originate from the surface states in the porous structures, which was supported by X-ray photoelectron spectra characterization. The emission peak at 650 nm is due to donor-acceptor-pairs (DAP) recombination via nitrogen donors and boron-related double D-centers in fluorescent SiC substrates. The results of the present work suggest that the ALD Al2O3 films can effectively suppress the non-radiative recombination for the porous structures on fluorescent SiC. In addition, we provide the evidence based on the low-temperature time-resolved PL that the mechanism behind the PL emission in porous structures is mainly related to the transitions via surface states.