Optical characterization of porous silicon and crystalline silicon by the Kramers-Kronig method

The electronic structure of porous silicon (PS) has been characterized by optical reflectance spectra analyses. Using a Cary-500 spectrometer, the reflectance spectra of PS are measured in the photon energy range of 0.4-6 eV. The spectral responses of optical constants are calculated for PS and Si by Kramers-Kronig analysis. The analysis clarified strong evidence for widening and direct bandgaps for PS samples. Also, the optical constants of PS layers as a function of porosity have been studied. Our results indicate that PS retains some of the characteristic optical features of crystalline Si. However, in the visible region, PS shows that the imaginary part of the complex refractive index increases, and the real part decreases as porosity increases. This feature could be related to the surface roughness of PS and its role in surface absorption and scattering.