Photoluminescence Decay and Hydrogen Desorption of n-Type Porous Silicon

The decay under illumination of the photoluminescence (PL) intensity ofn-type porous silicon (PS) samples prepared by electrochemical etching has been investigated. We have found that the PL evolution with illumination time presents two different stages: an initial very fast decay which lasts ∼300 s, followedby a second one, much slower, which extends for times longer than 104 s. Thisevolution suggests that two different mechanisms could be responsible for the PLintensity decay. Samples subjected to different illumination times were studied byThermal Desorption Spectroscopy (TDS). The desorption rate of H2 and SiHx species was monitored during linear heating of the samples. A qualitative correlationbetween the decay of the PL intensity under illumination and the amount of H2 and SiHx species evolved from the illuminated samples has been observed. Experimentaldata suggest that H2 could be desorbed from the sample during the illuminationtime through a photoinduced H2 desorption process, inducing the decrease of the PLintensity.