Formation of porous silicon: an in situ investigation with high-resolutionX-ray diffraction

The single crystal property of p(+) type porous silicon is used to investig ate the formation mechanisms of this material by in. situ X-ray diffraction . During anodisation, the diffraction peak of the porous silicon layer exhi bits a lattice parameter expansion, with the usual value. For long anodisat ion time; a parasitic chemical dissolution leads to a regular and homogeneo us decrease of lattice mismatch, also observed during pure chemical dissolu tion.