icon ▁until ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 8 0 s . ▁At ▁the ▁time , ▁Le igh ▁Can ham ▁– ▁while ▁working ▁at ▁the ▁Def ence ▁Research ▁Agency ▁in ▁England ▁– ▁reason ed ▁that ▁the ▁por ous ▁sil icon ▁may ▁display ▁quantum ▁conf in ement ▁effects . ▁The ▁intu ition ▁was ▁followed ▁by ▁successful ▁experimental ▁results ▁published ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 0 . ▁In ▁the ▁published ▁experiment , ▁it ▁was ▁revealed ▁that ▁sil icon ▁w af ers ▁can ▁emit ▁light ▁if ▁subject ed ▁to ▁electro chem ical ▁and ▁chemical ▁dissol ution . ▁ ▁The ▁published ▁result ▁stim ulated ▁the ▁interest ▁of ▁the ▁scientific ▁community ▁in ▁its ▁non - linear ▁optical ▁and ▁elect rical ▁properties . ▁The ▁growing ▁interest ▁was ▁ev iden ced ▁in ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁published ▁work ▁concerning ▁the ▁properties ▁and ▁potential ▁applications ▁of ▁por ous ▁sil icon . ▁In ▁an ▁article ▁published ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 0 , ▁it ▁was ▁found ▁that ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁published ▁work ▁grew ▁expon entially ▁in ▁between ▁ 1 9 9 1 ▁and ▁ 1 9 9 5 . ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 1 , ▁a ▁team ▁of ▁scient ists ▁at ▁the ▁Techn ical ▁University ▁of ▁Mun ich ▁in ad vert ently ▁discovered ▁that ▁hydro gen ated ▁por ous ▁sil icon ▁react s ▁explos ively ▁with ▁o xygen ▁at ▁cry ogen ic ▁temper atures , ▁re le asing ▁several ▁times ▁as ▁much ▁energy ▁as ▁an ▁equivalent ▁amount ▁of ▁T NT , ▁at ▁a ▁much ▁greater ▁speed . ▁( An ▁abstract ▁of ▁the