A room temperature light source based on silicon nanowires

• Synthesis of ultrathin Si nanowires (NWs) by metal-assisted chemical etching
• Synthesis of NW/carbon nanotube (CNT) hybrid systems
• Structural characterization of Si NWs and Si NW/CNT
• Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) properties of Si NWs and of Si NW/CNT
• Tuning of the PL properties of the Si NW/CNT hybrid system

We synthesized ultrathin Si nanowires (NWs) by metal assisted chemical wet etching, using a very thin discontinuous Au layer as precursor for the process. A bright room temperature emission in the visible range due to electron–hole recombination in quantum confined Si NWs is reported. A single walled carbon nanotube (CNT) suspension was prepared and dispersed in Si NW samples. The hybrid Si NW/CNT system exhibits a double emission at room temperature, both in the visible (due to Si NWs) and the IR (due to CNTs) range, thus demonstrating the realization of a low-cost material with promising perspectives for applications in Si-based photonics.