Silicon has been anodized such that the porous layer is passivated with a homogeneous stretching phase by incorporatingH2O2in the anodization mixture. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements show that the Si–H stretching mode oriented perpendicular to the surface at∼2100 cm−1dominates the spectrum with negligible contribution from the bending modes in the600–900 cm−1region. Material analysis using Auger electron spectroscopy shows that the samples have very little impurities, and that the luminescent layer is very thin (5–10 nm). Scanning electron microscopy shows that the surface is smoother with features smaller than those of conventional samples. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.