Thermodynamics of a phase transition of silicon nanoparticles at the annealing and carbonization of porous silicon

The formation of SiC nanocrystals of the cubic modification in the process of high-temperature carbonization of porous silicon has been analyzed. A thermodynamic model has been proposed to describe the experimental data obtained by atomic-force microscopy, Raman scattering, spectral analysis, Auger spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. It has been shown that the surface energy of silicon nanoparticles and quantum filaments is released in the process of annealing and carbonization. The Monte Carlo simulation has shown that the released energy makes it possible to overcome the nucleation barrier and to form SiC nanocrystals. The processes of laser annealing and electron irradiation of carbonized porous silicon have been analyzed.