Abstract

Silicon-based nanocomposites are very promising materials for the light control and nonlinear optics. The porous silicon formed by the silicon nanocrystals separated with the voids (pores) is a good sample of this nanocoposite attracting a great deal of interest. Relatively high cubic susceptibility of silicon combined with quantum-size effect, well-developed surface, and the local field enhancement result in significant enhancement of the nonlinear-optical interaction efficiency in this material. Previously, the researchers' interest was focused on the microporous silicon with the pores of less then 2 nm in diameter, which demonstrated the quantum-size effect. However, the surface states and the local-field variations also play very important roles in modification of the optical properties of nanostructures and in comparison with initial bulk materials. In particular, the local-field effects cause the strong birefringence in the mesoporous Si and enhancement of its nonlinear-optical response. Application of the mesoporous silicon with the pores ranging from 5 to 100 nm allows us to focus on the mentioned effects.

© 2009 IEEE