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Science 3 January 1992:
Vol. 255. no. 5040, pp. 66 - 68
DOI: 10.1126/science.255.5040.66
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Articles

Luminescent Colloidal Silicon Suspensions from Porous Silicon

JULIE L. HEINRICH 1, CORRINE L. CURTIS 1, GRACE M. CREDO 1, MICHAEL J. SAILOR 1, and KAREN L. KAVANAGH 2

1 Department of Chemistry, The University of California at San Diego, La. Jolla, CA 92093
2 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093

A procedure for generating colloidal suspensions of Si that exhibit luminescence, attributed to quantum confinement effects, is described. Samples of n- or p-type Si that have been electrochemically etched to form porous Si can be ultrasonically dispersed into methylene chloride, acetonitrile, methanol, toluene, or water solvents, forming a suspension of fine Si particles that luminesce. Transmission electron microscopy analyses show that the Si particles have irregular shapes, with diameters ranging from many micrometers to nanometers. Luminescent, composite polystyrene/Si films can be made by the addition of polystyrene to a toluene suspension of the Si nanoparticles and casting of the resulting solution onto a glass slide.

Submitted on September 9, 1991
Accepted on November 5, 1991


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Chemiluminescence of Anodized and Etched Silicon: Evidence for a Luminescent Siloxene-Like Layer on Porous Silicon.
P. McCord, S.-L. Yau, and A. J. Bard (1992)
Science 257, 68-69
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