Abstract

The electrochemical etching of crystalline silicon in hydrofluoric acid based solutions has been found to produce a porous layer, termed porous silicon (PS), which is found to exhibit photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) in the visible region. While the luminescence mechanism is the subject of much debate, the potential for this material is enormous as it could usher in a new generation of silicon-based optoelectronic devices. An electrolytic cell capable of producing luminescent layers of porous silicon over large area silicon wafers has been designed and fabricated. The stability of the PL of PS after subjection to standard microelectronic processing steps, namely thermal oxidation, ion implantation, and reactive ion etching has been investigated. Changes in the PL intensity as well as shifts in the PL wavelengths observed after processing support the quantum confinement and surface states theories for the luminescence. These results also support the possibility of integrating PS into standard silicon integrated circuit processing. For the study of EL, Au/PS Schottky, ITO/PS heterojunction and PS pn junction diodes have been fabricated. EL efficiencies in the range of 10~5 to 10"7 have been determined for these devices. The diodes typically exhibit extremely high series resistance and ideality factor values. These results are direct consequences of the large non-planar surface area of PS yielding poor electrical contacts and high surface state densities. These factors need to be drastically improved to obtain efficient EL in PS devices. A unique process capable of obtaining 5 u.m wide lines of luminescent porous silicon in close proximity to device quality polished silicon is also presented.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Silicon--Optical properties; Electroluminescence; Optical materials; Luminescence

Publication Date

1-1-1994

Document Type

Thesis

Department, Program, or Center

Center for Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor

Kurinec, Santosh

Advisor/Committee Member

Lane, Richard

Advisor/Committee Member

Wagner, Jerome

Comments

Note: imported from RIT’s Digital Media Library running on DSpace to RIT Scholar Works. Physical copy available through RIT's The Wallace Library at: TK7871.15.S55 S44 1994

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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