POROUS SILICON

This paper attempts to review the field of research into light emissio n from porous silicon. The driving force behind such research is the t antalizing goal of adding optoelectronic functions to the already impr essive array of electronic functions provided by silicon-based devices . A silicon technology with included light emission would move even cl oser to complete dominance of the electronics market. After several ye ars of research effort, the fundamental mechanisms of light emission a re still not completely resolved. This is not surprising: porous silic on has many attributes of a new and complex material, and its study re quires a truly interdisciplinary effort involving electrochemistry, su rface science, structural and chemical microscopy on the atomic scale and detailed optical spectroscopy. This paper tries to connect these v arious threads; inevitably what emerges will only serve as a rather se lective 'snapshot' of a still developing and often perplexing field.