MICROHARDNESS OF POROUS SILICON FILMS AND COMPOSITES

Microhardness measurements have been performed on porous silicon (PSi) films. The dependence of the hardness on porosity, morphology and the underlying silicon substrate has been established. A model which dete rmines the intrinsic film hardness has been developed and experimental ly validated. The load dependence of hardness was measured as an index of the disorder in porous silicon. Hardness analysis also provided in formation on the nature of the PSi surface. Finally, several PSi-polym er nanocomposites have been fabricated and characterized. An improveme nt in hardness is observed, with no apparent change in the PL characte ristics. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.