Blue light emission of porous silicon subjected to RTP treatments

Porous silicon samples were treated with the rapid thermal process (RTP) under different circumstances (N-2, Ar, O-2 and Air). Before and after treatments, the samples were checked by means of photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Four blue light emission peaks were found in the PL spectra of porous silicon samples subjected to the RTP treatments at temperatures above 400 degrees C. The peak positions were found not to vary with the circumstances and temperatures of RTP treatments. It is considered that due to oxidation during the RTP treatments, the pole size of Si crystal in porous silicon decreased, resulting in the blue shift of light emission. Correlated with the Si crystal sizes discontinuous hypothesis and previous researchers' theory calculation, the PL peak positions did not vary with the RTP temperature and circumstances.