There should be no difference whether you use PHP or HTML, however it's important not to use query strings. That is, the search engines do not like example.com/article.php?id=1252. Instead, look to use example.com/article/1252/seo-article-on-file-extension/, or similar to that.

Hypertext Style: Cool URIs don't change. has more info on this - it's recommended for more reasons than just SEO, so why not?