Pickled luminescent silicon nanostructures

In freshly prepared porous Si, the newly exposed silicon-nanostructure surf ace is protected with a monolayer of hydrogen, which is very reactive and o xidizes in air leading to a loss of luminescence intensity and a degradatio n of the electronic properties. We report a surface passivation approach ba sed on organic modification that stabilizes the luminescence. This novel 'p ickling' process not only augments the desired optoelectronic properties, b ut also is adaptable to further chemical modification for integration into chemical and biophysical sensors. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.