Influence of surface coverage on the effective optical properties of porous silicon modeled as a Si-wire array

Abstract

The effective dielectric function, effective absorption coefficient and effective refractive index for a model of porous silicon (PS) are calculated using the volume and surface averaging method. The model consists of periodic Si wires with different surface coverages. This approach allows to obtain analytical results within certain approximations. The method uses experimental parameters to characterize the bulk and the surface. We choose the bulk c-Si, and cover it with three different possible surface skins: siloxanes, a-Si:H and SiO2. The results are compared with PS experimental data and other theoretical approaches for silicon wires. We obtain good agreement for certain coatings. Our results emphasize the important role of surface coatings in the effective response of porous silicon. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.