Influence of the fabrication process on the light emission of macroporous silicon

Macroporous silicon structures have been fabricated by electrochemical etching. Such fabrication process is known to result in the presence of a thin microporous Si layer at the walls of the macropores and at the surface. Photoluminescence measurements conducted in plan-view and cross-section exhibit a wide emission peak around 650nm which can be attributed to the microporous Si. The combination of a photonic crystal and a light emitter in one structure represents a potential for applications that has not been studied previously. This preliminary study shows the influence of the main fabrication parameters, namely the current density and the etchant solution, on the emission properties of the microporous Si layer.

[1]  Lyudmila A. Karachevtseva,et al.  Novel macroporous silicon structures as light emission and sensor elements , 2001, SPIE OPTO.

[2]  Eli Yablonovitch,et al.  Inhibited spontaneous emission in solid-state electronics , 1987 .

[3]  Stefan L. Schweizer,et al.  Two- and three-dimensional photonic crystals made of macroporous silicon and liquid crystals , 2003 .

[4]  Characterization of a porous silicon diode with efficient and tunable electroluminescence , 1996 .

[5]  Visible light emission from silicon: a quantum effect in highly porous materials , 1991, Conference Record of the 1991 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference.

[6]  Volker Lehmann,et al.  Two‐dimensional infrared photonic band gap structure based on porous silicon , 1995 .

[7]  L. D. Negro,et al.  P-type macroporous silicon for two-dimensional photonic crystals , 2002 .

[8]  I. Avrutsky,et al.  Optical filtering by leaky guided modes in macroporous silicon , 2003 .

[9]  On the use of surfactants in the electrochemical preparation of porous silicon , 1997 .

[10]  P. French,et al.  Macroporous-based micromachining on full wafers , 2001 .

[11]  G. Masini,et al.  Visual determination of thickness and porosity of porous silicon layers , 1997 .

[12]  L. Dori,et al.  Permeated Porous Silicon Suspended Membrane as Sub-ppm Benzene Sensor for Air Quality Monitoring , 2000 .

[13]  Philippe M. Fauchet,et al.  Porous Silicon Physics and Device Applications: A Status Report , 1998 .

[14]  Kazuo Furuya,et al.  Photoluminescence in complex microporous-macroporous silicon structures , 2001, International Conference on Material Science and Material Properties for Infrared Optoelectronics.

[15]  Yurii A. Vlasov,et al.  Enhancement of optical gain of semiconductors embedded in three-dimensional photonic crystals , 1997 .

[16]  S. D. Collins,et al.  Porous silicon formation mechanisms , 1992 .

[17]  R. Lal,et al.  Macroporous silicon based capacitive affinity sensor—fabrication and electrochemical studies , 2004 .

[18]  Muller,et al.  Mechanisms of visible-light emission from electro-oxidized porous silicon. , 1992, Physical review. B, Condensed matter.

[19]  H. Reisinger,et al.  Optical shortpass filters based on macroporous silicon , 2001 .

[20]  A. Birner,et al.  Macroporous Silicon: A Two‐Dimensional Photonic Bandgap Material Suitable for the Near‐Infrared Spectral Range , 1998 .