Optical, Morphological, and Structural Properties of Tablets Obtained from Porous Silicon

Porous silicon (PS) is a material with a great interest due to its optical (photoluminescent) and chemical (reactive surface) properties, for this reason, it is important to find new ways to be applied in the development of new devices. In this work the optic, chemical and morphologic properties of PS compressed into a tablet were characterized. The porous silicon was physically removed from the crystalline silicon and then was compressed to obtain a tablet. The optical characterization was performed through photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The PL spectrum from the PS tablet showed a small shift to higher wavelengths in comparison with the PS layers used to obtain the tablet. The x-ray diffraction pattern showed a loss in PS tablet crystallinity after being subjected to the compression process. The morphological characterization was carried out with a scanning electron microscope and the images showed a compact surface with high rugosity. This result was supported by the profilometry analysis, which also showed an irregular surface. The chemical properties of the surface were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The FTIR characterization showed an oxidized and highly hydrogenated surface.