Light emission from porous silicon

Abstract

Room-temperature visible luminescence observed in porous silicon is one of the most significant discoveries of this decade as it opens up the possibility of silicon-based optoelectronics afresh. The exact mechanism of this different luminescence behaviour of porous silicon, compared to crystalline silicon, is not well established. In this paper results of a combination of infrared absorption, and photoluminescence emission and excitation spectroscopies will be described to show that the nanocrystallite nature of porous silicon and chemical environment at the surface are the important aspects of this novel luminescence behaviour.