The influence of hydrogen plasma on the electroreflectance spectrum and the spectrum of electron states of porous silicon

Porous Si samples were investigated by the electroreflectance modulation spectroscopy. The presence of minibands, which are responsible for the existence of photoluminescence bands (red, green, and blue), is revealed. It is established that the miniband responsible for the blue band vanishes upon the treatment of a porous Si surface in H+ plasma. Passivation of the surface with hydrogen also leads to strain relaxation both in porous films and in the Si substrate. The origin of electron states in the band gap of Si nanocrystallites is established