Francisco Morales-Morales

In the present work, we developed hybrid nanostructures based on ZnO films deposited on macroporous silicon substrates using the sol–gel spin coating and ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) techniques. The changes in the growth of ZnO films on macroporous silicon were studied using a UV-visible spectrometer, an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD analysis revealed the beneficial influence of macroporous silicon on the structural properties of ZnO films. SEM micrographs showed the growth and coverage of ZnO granular and flake-like crystals inside the pores of the substrate. The root mean square roughness (RMS) measured by AFM in the ZnO grown on the macroporous silicon substrate was up to one order of magnitude higher than reference samples. These results prove that the methods used in this work are effective to cover porous and obtain nano-morphologies of ZnO. These morphologies could be useful for making highly sensitive gas sensors.

Porous Si-SiO₂ UV microcavities are used to modulate a broad responsivity photodetector (GVGR-T10GD) with a detection range from 300 to 510 nm. The UV microcavity filters modified the responsivity at short wavelengths, while in the visible range the filters only attenuated the responsivity. All microcavities had a localized mode close to 360 nm in the UV-A range, and this meant that porous Si-SiO₂ filters cut off the photodetection range of the photodetector from 300 to 350 nm, where microcavities showed low transmission. In the short-wavelength range, the photons were absorbed and did not contribute to the photocurrent. Therefore, the density of recombination centers was very high, and the photodetector sensitivity with a filter was lower than the photodetector without a filter. The maximum transmission measured at the localized mode (between 356 and 364 nm) was dominant in the UV-A range and enabled the flow of high energy photons. Moreover, the filters favored light transmission with a wavelength from 390 nm to 510 nm, where photons contributed to the photocurrent. Our filters made the photodetector more selective inside the specific UV range of wavelengths. This was a novel result to the best of our knowledge.