Local chemical states and microstructure of photoluminescent porous silicon studied by means of EELS and TEM

Photoluminescent porous Si (PS) layers were formed on low resistivity p-type Si(100) wafers by anodization at a current density (Ia) of 100-350 mA cm(-2) at room temperature. The local chemical states and the microstructures of the PS layers were studied by means of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and were correlated to the red photoluminescence (PL). The PS layer consists of sponge-like and tree-like structures. The tree-like structure becomes finer with increase of Ia. The fine tree-like structure is shown to be favorable for intensive PL. The EELS analysis reveals that the Si-4O structure, namely the basic structure of SiO2, and Si crystals coexist in the PS layers. The relative content of SiO2 to Si crystallites (R) increases with increase in Ia and decreases with the depth from the top surface of the PS layer. High R corresponds to intensive PL. These results suggest that PL may be connected with some kind of defects in SiO2 and/or defects in the boundary between Si crystallites and SiO2 structure in anodized PS layers, and that PL may be mainly emitted from the layer near the top surface of the PS layers.