Physics

S.M. Prokes, O.J. Glembocki, V.M. Bermudez, R. Kaplan, L.E. Friedersdorf, P.C. Searson, "SiHx excitation: An alternate mechanism for porous Si photoluminescence," Physical Review B, 45:13788-91, 1992.

Sharka M. Prokes (Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.): "Silicon has many attractive properties, such as abundance, a stable passivating oxide, and good thermal and mechanical properties, which make it one of the most important materials in the electronics industry. Unfortunately, bulk silicon is a very poor optoelectronic material because its electronic structure is such that only inefficient light emission in the infrared can be produced. This occurs because the optical process is second-order in nature, involving both photons and phonons.

"Porous silicon is produced by electrochemical etching, and differs from bulk silicon in that it consists of interconnected silicon structures, some on the order of several nanometers. The discovery of strong, visible luminescence (approximately 1.7 eV) from porous silicon generated significant interest, and...