Thermal oxidation of free-standing porous silicon films

Abstract

We have studied the thermal oxidation of free-standing porous silicon films from room temperature to 730 °C with a differential scanning calorimeter and a thermogravimeter. We have observed three different thermal oxidation processes for the porous silicon. The change of enthalpy (ΔH) and activation energy (Ea) for the first reaction has been calculated. The oxidation of a fresh sample has been compared with those of aged samples, which were stored in dry relative humidity (RH 0%), humid (RH 100%) and normal (RH 25%–35%) laboratory air atmospheres. We also used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to clarify the bonds for each process.