Reciprocal Space Analysis of the Microstructure of Luminescent and Nonluminescent Porous Silicon Films

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe microstructure of anodically prepared porous silicon films was determined using a novel x-ray diffraction technique. This technique uses double-crystal diffractometry combined with position-sensitive x-ray detection to efficiently and quantitatively image the reciprocal space structure of crystalline materials. Reciprocal space analysis of newly prepared, as well as aged, p+porous silicon films showed that these films exhibit a very broad range of crystallinity. This material appears to range in structure from a strained, single-crystal, sponge-like material exhibiting long-range coherency to isolated, dilated nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous matrix. Reciprocal space analysis of n+and p+porous silicon showed these materials are strained single-crystals with a spatially-correlated array of vertical pores. The vertical pores in these crystals may be surrounded by nanoporous or nanocrystalline domains as small as a few nm in size which produce diffuse diffraction indicating their presence. The photoluminescence of these films was examined using 488 nm Ar laser excitation in order to search for possible correlations between photoluminescent intensity and crystalline microstructure.