Time-Resolved Spectroscopic Studies of the Photoluminescence of Nanoporous Silicon: Effects of Lewis Acid/Base Exposure

Visible light emission emanating from nanostructured porous silicon is sensitive to adsorption of a number of small molecules, suggesting its utility as a chemical sensor. In this work we investigate the mechanistic origin of the diminution of the luminescence by n-propyl amine adsorption and restoration by trifluoroacetic acid, most sensitively by an examination of the changes in observed lifetime of the porous Si luminescence. This is quantified in terms of a stretched exponential model that is consistent with a distribution of luminescent centers in this nanophase material.