Porous Silicon: From Formation to Applications: Optoelectronics, Microelectronics, and Energy Technology Applications, Volume Three

Chapter 2

Photodetectors Based on Porous Silicon

Ghenadii Korotcenkov and Nima Naderi

2.1 Overview and Background of PSi-Based Photodetectors

Photodetectors are fundamentally semiconductor devices that convert optical energy (light) into electrical energy, which is mostly manifested as photocurrent. High-sensitivity and high-speed photodetectors have been widely studied over the past years because of their application in optical communication networks.

The performance of the semiconductor-based photodetectors depends on the distribution and flux of the incident light as well as on electronic parameters of the substrate material, such as doping levels and band structures (Al-Hardan et al. 2011). Based on the application, the performance of photodetectors ...