Silicon (Si) is the dominant semiconductor material in both the microelectronic and photovoltaic industries. Despite its poor optical properties, Si is simply too abundant and useful to be completely abandoned in either industry. Since the initial discovery of efficient room temperature photoluminescence (PL) from porous Si and the following discoveries of PL and time-resolved optical gain from Si nanocrystals (Si-nc) in SiO2, many groups have studied the feasibility of making Si-based, CMOS-compatible electroluminescent devices and electrically pumped lasers. These studies have shown that for Si-ne sizes below about 10 nm, PL can be attributed to radiative recombination of confined excitons and quantum efficiencies can reach 90%. PL peak energies are blue-shifted from the bulk Si band edge of 1.1 eV due to the quantum confinement effect and PL decay lifetimes are on mus timescales. However, many unanswered questions still exist about both the ease of carrier injection and various non-radiative and loss mechanisms that are present.;A potential alternative material system to porous Si and Si-nc is Si nanowires (SiNWs). In this thesis, I examine the optical properties of SiNWs with diameters in the range of 3-30 nm fabricated by a number of compound metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible fabrication techniques including Chemical Vapor Deposition on metal nanoparticle coated substrates, catalytic wet etching of bulk Si and top-down electron-beam lithographic patterning. Using thermal oxidation and etching, we can increase the degree of confinement in the SiNWs. I demonstrate PL peaked in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) wavelength ranges that is tunable by controlling the crystalline SiNW core diameter, which is measured with dark field and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. PL decay lifetimes of the SiNWs are on the order of 50 mus after proper surface passivation, which suggest that the PL is indeed from confined carriers in the SiNW cores. Investigation of the non-radiative Auger recombination (AR) process suggests that for high carrier densities in excess of 1019 cm-3, the AR lifetime is about 80 ns and decreases with increasing carrier density. This SiNW AR lifetime is slower than the AR process in Si nanocrystals at similar carrier densities, but faster than the radiative process. I also study the light emission and absorption properties of single SiNWs patterned on Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates and find that a large fraction of NWs is optically dead. Moreover, the active, light-emitting nanostructures exhibit PL blinking, a mechanism often seen for individual nanostructure light emitters. These results are essential to evaluating Si nanostructures as a feasible gain or lasing medium.;A second potential application for SiNWs is as a building block for low-cost, Si-based photovoltaics (PV). The market for thin-film PV, particularly organic thin-film PV, exists because it offers potential lower cost solutions for solar power versus bulk Si-based PV. However, many thin film technologies, while possessing superior optical absorption properties compared to Si, suffer from poor electronic transport properties. Here, I present a new Si-based PV design that combines the desirable optical properties of highly absorptive organic molecules and the high-mobility electronic properties of crystalline Si. This synergy is achieved by exploiting efficient Forster energy transfer from the light absorbing organic to SiNWs that enable current extraction. The energy transfer radius of a particular dye and bulk Si is found to be roughly 4 nm. Spectroscopic photocurrent experiments were performed on unpatterned SOI wafers as well as SiNWs patterned in SOI substrates and a significant photocurrent increase was seen in samples coated with organics versus uncoated samples. The photocurrent increase is seen in the wavelength range of the dye's absorption band, suggesting absorption of the dye and subsequent energy transfer to the Si plays a role. These results could pave the way for new low-cost, Si-based solar cell designs that leverage the strengths of the Si PV and microelectronics industries.
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