Reversible and irreversible light-induced change of photoluminescence in porous silicon

We have investigated the light-induced change of photoluminescence(PL) and its recovery in porous silicon. The exposure of the porous silicon to continuous laser light in vacuum results in the quenching of the PL intensity, which is almost fully recovered by simply keeping the samples in vacuum or in air at room temperature for a few days. When the light exposure is done in air, the PL spectra of the samples with initial PL peak at 800 nm are blue-shifted to the peak position at 740 nm and the samples with the initial PL spectrum peaked at 740 nm shows only a rise of PL intensity without any change of its peak position. Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) studies suggest that the light-induced change of PL in air is a irreversible process and occurs as a result of optically induced replacement of some of the Si-H bonds with O-Si-H bonds or adsorption of oxygen with hydrogen loss.