Thermoluminescence of porous silicon

Abstract

The characteristics of electronics states in porous silicon (PS) from measurements of thermoluminescence (TL) are presented. The observed shape of the TL peaks at low temperatures (4-250 K) is explained by quasi-continuous spectrum of the electron traps with activation energy in range of 0.03-0.4 eV. The high-energy peaks observed at 100-300 ° C are associated with radiation-induced defects E' (≡ Si •) and nonbridging oxygen hole centers (≡ Si - O •) that generated in insulating SiOx layer which covers the PS surface. Currently, the TL of PS is not exploited as a radiation dosimeter, due to the low activation energies of the traps and strong fading. Nevertheless, the observations of high temperature peaks of TL in oxidized PS, its biocompatibility and other properties, suggest a potential use of this material for in vivo dosimetry. An additional application could be the use of PS as a template for more established scintillation materials.