Temperature dependence of indigo light emission from mesoporous ZnO/porous silicon nanocomposites

Nanocomposites of mesoporous zinc oxide (ZnO) and porous silicon (PS) were prepared through a hydrothermal method. Room-temperature (RT) and temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) were performed to investigate the optical properties and temperature dependence of the indigo emission peak from the ZnO/PS nanocomposites. An indigo emission peak from the nanocomposites and a red emission peak from the PS were observed in the case of the mesoporous ZnO/PS nanocomposites. At 10 K, the nanocomposites exhibited four emission peaks at 3.108, 2.929, 2.730, and 2.248 eV, which correspond to the DX, AX, DX-1LO, and DX-2LO phonon replicas, respectively. With an increase in temperature from 10 to 275 K, the curves in the intensities of the emission peaks formed an inverted "S" shape while their energies remained nearly constant. At 300 K, however, only the AX emission peak was observed; the DX and LO phonon replicas disappeared. The intensities of the DX and AX emission peaks exhibited anomalous behaviors.