A large amount of work world-wide has been directed towards obtaining an understanding of the fundamental characteristics of porous Si. Much progress has been made following the demonstration in 1990 that highly porous material could emit very efficient visible photoluminescence at room temperature. Since that time, all features of the structural, optical and electronic properties of the material have been subjected to in-depth scrutiny. It is the purpose of the present review to survey the work which has been carried out and to detail the level of understanding which has been attained. The key importance of crystalline Si nanostructures in determining the behaviour of porous Si is highlighted. The fabrication of solid-state electroluminescent devices is a prominent goal of many studies and the impressive progress in this area is described.

The structural and luminescence properties of porous silicon

http://nathan.instras.com/documentDB/paper-69.pdf

Porous silicon: a quantum sponge structure for silicon based optoelectronics

Optical properties of porous silicon

Black silicon (BSi) represents a very active research area in renewable energy materials. The rise of BSi as a focus of study for its fundamental properties and potentially lucrative practical applications is shown by several recent results ranging from solar cells and light-emitting devices to antibacterial coatings and gas-sensors. In this paper, the common BSi fabrication techniques are first reviewed, including electrochemical HF etching, stain etching, metal-assisted chemical etching, reactive ion etching, laser irradiation and the molten salt Fray-Farthing-Chen-Cambridge (FFC-Cambridge) process. The utilization of BSi as an anti-reflection coating in solar cells is then critically examined and appraised, based upon strategies towards higher efficiency renewable solar energy modules. Methods of incorporating BSi in advanced solar cell architectures and the production of ultra-thin and flexible BSi wafers are also surveyed. Particular attention is given to routes leading to passivated BSi surfaces, which are essential for improving the electrical properties of any devices incorporating BSi, with a special focus on atomic layer deposition of Al2O3. Finally, three potential research directions worth exploring for practical solar cell applications are highlighted, namely, encapsulation effects, the development of micro-nano dual-scale BSi, and the incorporation of BSi into thin solar cells. It is intended that this paper will serve as a useful introduction to this novel material and its properties, and provide a general overview of recent progress in research currently being undertaken for renewable energy applications.

/pdf/black-silicon-fabrication-methods-properties-and-solar-1gjw6owq4d.pdf

Black silicon: fabrication methods, properties and solar energy applications

https://www.cell.com/trends/biotechnology/pdf/S0167-7799(09)00032-8.pdf

Porous silicon biosensors on the advance

Porosity superlattices have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence and reflectance spectroscopy. The superlattices were formed on p-type doped Si using two different techniques. Firstly, for homogeneously doped substrates we have periodically varied the formation current density and thereby the porosity. Secondly, the current density was kept constant while etching was performed on periodically doped Si layers. For the first type of superlattices the layer thicknesses were determined by transmission electron microscopy. The results are in good agreement with the values calculated from the etching rate and time. For both types of superlattices, reflectance and photoluminescence spectra show strong modulation due to the periodicity of the superlattice.

/pdf/porosity-superlattices-a-new-class-of-si-heterostructures-c0ovavfw1l.pdf

M.G. Berger

Papers

Porosity superlattices: a new class of Si heterostructures

The Colourful World of Porous Silicon: From Interference Filters to Applications