Luminescent color image generation on porous silicon

Black and white images were projected onto n-type silicon (100) wafers during a photoelectrochemical etch to produce a color image that photoluminesces. The photoluminescence originates from a thin layer of luminescent porous silicon that is produced in the photoetch, and the colors that appear in the etched image arise from thin-film optical interference. A diffraction grating was also photoetched into the substrate, demonstrating simultaneous encoding of a gray-scale image into thin-film interference, luminescence, and diffraction phenomena.