The application of porous silicon as a template for the fabrication of nanosized copper objects is reported. Three different types of nanostructures were formed by displacement deposition of copper on porous silicon from hydrofluoric acid-based solutions of copper sulphate: (1) copper nanoparticles, (2) quasi-continuous copper films, and (3) free porous copper membranes. Managing the parameters...

The fabrication of porous Si-based Er-doped light-emitting devices is a very promising developing field for all-silicon light emitters. However, while luminescence of Er-doped porous silicon devices has been demonstrated, very little attention has been devoted to the doping process itself. We have undertaken a detailed study of this process, examining the porous silicon matrix from several poin...

Surface chemistry is extremely important in microarray technology, since it determines the successful attachment of the molecules, spot morphology or signal intensity. This paper describes development of functionalised gold layer surfaces deposited onto porous silicon as substrates for microarray experiments. Two gold textures were studied in order to find the best ratio between signal intensit...

In the present work, the photo-acoustic emission from nanostructured copper/porous silicon hybrid systems was studied. Copper nanoparticles were grown by photo-assisted electroless deposition on crystalline silicon and nanostructured porous silicon (nanoPS). Both the optical and photo-acoustic responses from these systems were determined. The experimental results show a remarkable increase in t...

Using time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy over a wide range of temperatures, we were able to probe both radiative and nonradiative relaxation processes in luminescent porous silicon. By comparing the photoluminescence decay times from freshly prepared and oxidized porous silicon, we show that radiative processes should be linked with quantum confinement in small Si nanocrystallites and...

A novel white light-promoted reaction using photoluminescent nanocrystalline silicon enables the hydrosilylation of alkenes and alkynes, providing stabilization of the porous silicon without significant loss of the photoemissive qualities of the material. Photopatterning and lithographic fabrication of isolated porous silicon structures are made possible. Experiments and observations are presen...

We report an experimental investigation of the nonlinear optical properties of nanoporous silicon optical waveguides measured at 1550 nm. The nonlinear properties including two-photon absorption, self-phase modulation, free-carrier absorption and free-carrier plasma dispersion are characterized and compared with similar measurements conducted on a conventional silicon-on-insulator ridge wavegui...

As continued progress towards faster, low power consuming microelectronic devices becomes increasing difficult due to the scaling challenges of electrical interconnects, it becomes even more critical to explore alternative technologies. Tunable porous silicon photonic bandgap structures are viable building blocks for optical interconnects, which present a possible long term solution to the inte...