Vickers microhardness of oxidized and nonoxidized porous silicon

In this work we present our recent investigation on characterizing mechanical properties of porous silicon (PS) by using instrumented micro-indentation. Hardness and elastic modulus for oxidized and nonoxidized PS were measured. Experimental results revealed that hardness and elastic modulus are significantly lower than that of silicon substrate and decrease with increasing porosities. After oxidation an increase of the hardness and elastic modulus were observed. The task of stabilization of PS mechanical parameters can be solved with the help of oxidation.