Experimental Study on Mechanical Properties of Micro-Structured Porous Silicon Film

Mechanical properties of micro-structured porous silicon film (PS) were studied combining X-ray diffraction with micro-Raman spectroscopy. The micro-structured porous silicon samples with different porosities ranging from 30.77% to 96.25% were obtained by chemical etching. Lattice parameters of the samples were measured using X-ray diffraction and its maximal change is up to 1.0%. This lattice mismatch with the bulk silicon substrate may introduce residual stress to the porous film. The residual stress measurement by micro-Raman spectroscopy reveals that the maximum of tensile residual stress has reached GPa level in the porous film. Moreover, the lattice mismatch and its corresponding residual stress are increasing with the porosity of PS, but average elastic modulus is about 14.5 GPa, one order of magnitude lower than that of substrate Si. The mechanical properties of PS have aclose relation with its micro-pore structure.