Photoluminescence studies of thermal impurity diffused porous silicon layers

Porous silicon layers were formed on diffused layers. Both boron and phosphorus impurities were thermally diffused using solid sources in n-Si, p-Si, n-epi/Si and p-epi/Si substrates of various resistivities. Porous silicon on these layers was formed by electrochemical and chemical etching under various etching conditions. Strong visible luminescence was observed from these porous silicon structures. Infrared absorption studies indicated that surface molecule identities are immaterial to the enhancement or degradation of photoluminescence. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.