PHOTOINDUCED SYNTHESIS OF POROUS SILICON WITHOUT ANODIZATION

An easy and very reproducible method to produce porous silicon by ligh t-stimulated etching of crystalline silicon in HF is described, and th e formation mechanism is discussed in terms of carrier diffusion and b and bending near the surface. The method avoids the use of electrodes and electrochemical etching. The photosynthesized porous silicon shows bright photoluminescence. Spectra recorded at room temperature for n- type as well as p-type silicon are presented. (C) 1995 American Instit ute of Physics.