Silicone thesis

Silicones are manufactured from pure silicon which has been obtained by the reduction of silicon dioxide (silica) in the form of sand with carbon at high temperatures: The production of silicones from silicon takes place in three stages: a) synthesis of chlorosilanes b) hydrolysis of chlorosilanes

Silicones are synthetic polymers with a silicon-oxygen backbone similar to that in silicon dioxide (silica), but with organic groups attached to the silicon atoms by C-Si bonds. The silicone chain exposes organic groups to the outside. Thus, despite having a very polar chain, the physical properties of silicones are similar to those of an alkane.

The growers of the silicon nanocrystal material, Szu-Lin Cheng and Satoshi Ishikawa of the Yoshio Nishi group, provided material with very little turnaround. It was a pleasure to collaborate with them and discuss the future applications of silicon photonics.

Because silicon and silicon compatible materials have dominated electronic development, optical de- vices must also conform to the silicon platform. One of the greatest challenges in building such an integrated opto-electronic system is the development of an efficient Si-compatible light emitter.