Optically active Si surfaces

The optoelectronics and photonics properties of silicon are fundamentally influenced by the density of carriers present near the sample surface. One way of generating very large densities of such carriers is to confine them in a Si nanolayer made by implantation followed by a suitable thermal treatment. In that way, one can photo-generate a two dimensional (2D) plasma which modifies the complex refractive index of the nanolayer.