BLUE-LIGHT EMITTED FROM POROUS SILICON OBTAINED BY HYDROTHERMAL ETCHING

Light emitting porous silicon (LEPSi) was prepared by hydrothermal etc hing of p-type single-crystal silicon. This sample preparation, which does not involve electrochemical etching followed by a rapid thermal o xidation (RTO) process in a dry oxygen ambient, yields blue light emis sion, the wavelength of the photoluminescence (PL) band peaking at 430 nm. The blue-emission porous silicon (PS) with high mechanical hardne ss is easily obtained by this technique. Our results are interpreted i n terms of the currently suggested theories.