9522054 Kalkoran This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project explores a novel thin-film electroluminescent (TFEL) display technology based on porous polysilicon. Phase I resulted in the first-ever electrically induced visible emission from thin films of porous silicon on a glass substrate, thus showing the feasibility of silicon-based displays. Phase II will study the trade-offs among process parameters as a foundation for display fabrication. An improved solid-state metal contact will be sought which conforms with porous silicon surfaces for high-efficiency light emitting diodes (LEDs). In situ electroplating will be used to deposit metal contacts on porous silicon in the electrolyte originally used to form the material. In this way an ohmic contact can be made to the entire nanostructred layer. Because the sample is not exposed to air prior to metallization, an insulating oxide layer at the interface is avoided. Finally, red, green, or blue polysilicon LEDs with high efficiency will be fabricated. A dot matrix alphanumeric display will be tested by integrating a 5x7 array of these devices. Potential commercial applications of this new technology for all-silicon processing of flat panel displays will be found in high volume manufacture of high definition home television, computer screens, and medical video imagers.
