Photothermal and photoacoustic characterization of porous silicon

Recently, porous silicon has been extensively studied due to its luminescence properties and some interesting features for micromechanical technology, characteristics that have led to a wide range of applications, from electro-optical devices to IR radiation detectors and gas sensors. It is therefore very important to obtain a complete description of this material, measuring its optical, electronic, and thermal properties. Following an introduction of the production process of porous silicon and its main physical and morphological characteristics, a review is presented of the possible applications of photothermal and photoacoustic techniques for the measurement of optical absorption and electronic and thermal transport properties. (C) 1997 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.