title: Ordered mesoporous silicon through magnesium reduction of polymer templated silica thin films.
abstract: This paper describes the process of making ordered mesoporous silicon (Si) thin films. The process begins with mesoporous silica (SiO 2) thin films that are produced via evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) using sol-gel silica precursors with a diblock copolymer template. This results in a film with a cubic lattice of 15 nm diameter pores and 10 nm thick walls. The silicon is produced through reduction of the silica thin films in a magnesium (Mg) vapor at 675 degrees C. Magnesium reduction preserves the ordered pore-solid architecture but replaces the dense silica walls with 10-17 nm silicon crystallites. The resulting porous silicon films are characterized by a combination of low and high angle X-ray diffraction, combined with direct SEM imaging. The result is a straightforward route to the production of ordered nanoporous silicon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA Los Angeles, California 90095-1569, USA.
authors.forename: Erik K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Richman
authors.forename: Chris B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brezesinski
authors.forename: Sarah H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Tolbert