Sol-gel derived films in meso-porous matrices: porous silicon, anodic alumina and artificial opals

Processing of the sol-gel derived films doped with the lanthanides onto gen erally available microelectronic materials-like porous silicon (po-Si) and porous anodic alumina is considered as a low-cost method of fabricating the thin luminescent films. The origin of 1.53 mum emission from Er-doped xero gels fabricated onto micro-, meso- and macro-porous silicon is discussed. F urther, porous anodic alumina, exhibiting regular pore morphology was shown to be an effective template for fabricating the luminescent xerogels. Fina lly, application of sol-gel process for synthesis the 3D colloidal photonic crystals is discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.