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In the present work, silicon nanowires were prepared by a thermal evaporation method. The evaporating source was a mixture of silicon and carbon nanopowders. Surface morphology, structural characteristics and emission properties of the silicon nanowires were investigated by several techniques. The results showed that the obtained products have the shape of nanowires with diameters ranging from 30 to 120 nm and lengths from 300 to 400 nm. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed the presence of crystalline silicon. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images revealed the core-shell structure of the wires. In the photoluminescence (PL) spectra recorded at room temperature, only a broad emission band peaking at about 650 nm was observed. In addition to the red emission, two other bands centered at around 455 nm and 510 nm appeared when measured at low temperatures. The origin and emission mechanism of these bands are discussed.

Silicon nanowires were successfully synthesized by a thermal evaporation method. We have observed a strong and broad emission band centered at 670 nm, which is attributed to the quantum confinement effect related to Si nanostructures embedded in the complex SiO x matrix. By fitting an experimental Raman spectrum, we confirm that the as-received wires possess crystalline silicon cores whose sizes were around 5 nm. Furthermore, the abnormal dependence of integral photoluminescence intensity on measured temperature was investigated.