Lateral photovoltaic effect in porous silicon

Abstract

Porous silicon has received considerable attention for its potential as a silicon-based visible light emitter. In this letter we introduce the lateral photovoltaic effect in porous silicon and show its origin in amphoteric dangling bond traps at the porous silicon surface, which also play a role in the light-induced photoluminescence degradation. The use of the lateral photoeffect for a wide area position-sensitive visible light detector is demonstrated. The lateral photoeffect also provides a new electrical technique to study the atmospheric interactions of porous silicon, with possible applications for vapor detection.