A new passivation method for porous silicon

In this paper, we show the enhancement and stabilization of the luminescence when depositing diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films on top of porous silicon (PS) layers. DLC thin films reduce the influence of different ambients to PS, which can cause the desorption of hydrogen molecules from the Si–Hx bonds leaving dangling bonds which operate as non-radiative recombination traps. So DLC thin films can lead to a more stable luminescence from PS layers. At the same time, hydrogenated carbon nitride films can further enhance the photoluminescence efficiency of PS because more dangling bonds are passivated by nitridation.