Formation of porous silicon: an in situ investigation with high-resolution X-ray diffraction

The single crystal property of p+ type porous silicon is used to investigate the formation mechanisms of this material by in situ X-ray diffraction. During anodisation, the diffraction peak of the porous silicon layer exhibits a lattice parameter expansion, with the usual value. For long anodisation time, a parasitic chemical dissolution leads to a regular and homogeneous decrease of lattice mismatch, also observed during pure chemical dissolution