A photoconduction study on porous silicon

Abstract

The porosification of crystalline silicon by electrochemical methods led to the obtaining of a new material with substantial changes in photoelectronic properties. The photoconductive behaviour of porous silicon is characterised by an extremely high dark resistivity, a photosensitivity for visible light, and an intrinsic bias voltage dependence of the spectral response. These properties are interpreted as a result of band-gap widening in PS and are correlated with surface morphology investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM).