Number 81 (Story #2), May 27, 1992 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein THE SILICON COMPOUND SILOXENE can be made to luminesce over a range of visible light wavelengths. Light-emitting silicon would greatly promote the growth of opto-electronic technology. Unlike luminescent porous silicon---discovered two years ago---siloxene does not need to be etched in acid and it can emit blue light. Martin S. Brandt of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Science in Stuttgart, Germany reported at the recent meeting of the Materials Research Society in San Francisco that some of siloxene's properties have been known for a long time but not fully appreciated until now. He and his colleagues grew a calcium-silicon compound (CaSi2) on silicon and then replaced the calcium with hydroxyl groups, creating siloxene (Si6O3H6), which can be tailored by attaching various chemical side groups to produce different shades of light. (Science News, 16 May 1992.)