Single-crystalline Si nanowires fabrication by one-step metal assisted chemical etching: The effect of etching time and resistivity of Si wafer

Aligned and uniform silicon nanowires (SiNWs) arrays were fabricated with good controllability and reproducibility by metal-assisted chemical etching in aqueous AgNO3/HF etching solutions in atmosphere. The SiNWs formed on silicon were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED). The results show that the as-prepared SiNWs are perfectly single crystals and the axial orientation of the Si nanowires is identified to be parallel to the [111] direction, which is identical to the initial silicon wafer. In addition, a series of experiments were conducted to study the effects of etching conditions such as solution concentration, etching time, and etching temperature on SiNWs. And the optimal solution concentrations for SiNWs have been identified. The formation mechanism of silicon nanowires and silver dendrites were also discussed.

Influence of Fabrication Parameter on the Nanostructure of SiNWs under HF/AgNO3/Fe(NO3)3 Etching System

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.809-810.93 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 809-810 ◽

pp. 93-98

Author(s):

Yong Yin Xiao ◽

Xiu Hua Chen ◽

Wen Hui Ma ◽

Shao Yuan Li ◽

Yu Ping Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Etching ◽

Room Temperature ◽

Etching Time ◽

Large Area ◽

One Step ◽

Fabrication Parameter ◽

Fabrication Parameters ◽

Oxidative Species ◽

Etching System

Large-area SiNWs has been successfully fabricated through one-step metal-assisted chemical etching process at room temperature. The effects of key fabrication parameters (AgNO3 concentration, Fe (NO3)3 concentration, and etching time) on the nanostructure SiNWs were carefully investigated by SEM, TEM, respectively. The results show that AgNO3 concentration and Fe (NO3)3 concentration play important roles to the lengths and arrangements of SiNWs arrays in one-step MACE. The morphological transition of Si surfaces from solid nanowires to porous nanowires can be found with increasing AgNO3 concentration and Fe (NO3)3 concentration, which indicates that the re-dissolved Ag+ would work as the main oxidative species for oxidizing the silicon substrate and forming SiNWs in the HF/ AgNO3/ Fe (NO3)3 etching system. The length of SiNWs is increased with increasing AgNO3 concentration from 0.005 mol/L to 0.02 mol/L and etching time, the chemical polish phoenomenon can be observed when the Fe (NO3)3 concentration increases to 0.5 mol/L. A novel mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of SiNWs in HF/ AgNO3/ Fe (NO3)3 solution.

Synthesis of Silicon Nanowire Arrays by Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching in Aqueous NH4HF2 Solution

Journal of Nano Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/jnanor.21.109 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

pp. 109-115 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

S. Naama ◽

T. Hadjersi ◽

G. Nezzal ◽

L. Guerbous

Keyword(s):

Silicon Nanowires ◽

Chemical Etching ◽

Silicon Nanowire ◽

Nanowire Arrays ◽

Etching Time ◽

Silicon Nanowire Arrays ◽

Peak Intensity ◽

One Step ◽

Etching Parameters ◽

P Type

One-step metal-assisted electroless chemical etching of p-type silicon substrate in NH4HF2/AgNO3 solution was investigated. The effect of different etching parameters including etching time, temperature, AgNO3 concentration and NH4HF2 concentration were investigated. The etched layers formed were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Photoluminescence. It was found that the etched layer was formed by well-aligned silicon nanowires. It is noted that their density and length strongly depend on etching parameters. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) from etched layer was observed. It was observed that PL peak intensity increases significantly with AgNO3 concentration.

Solvent-induced formation of unidirectionally curved and tilted Si nanowires during metal-assisted chemical etching

Journal of Materials Chemistry C ◽

10.1039/c2tc00041e ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 220-224 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Yongkwan Kim ◽

Angela Tsao ◽

Dae Ho Lee ◽

Roya Maboudian

Keyword(s):

Chemical Etching ◽

Si Nanowires ◽

Study of Si Nanowires Produced by Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching as a Light-Trapping Material in n-type c-Si Solar Cells

ACS Omega ◽

10.1021/acsomega.8b01049 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (9) ◽

pp. 10898-10906 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Ioannis Leontis ◽

Martha A. Botzakaki ◽

Stavroula N. Georga ◽

A. Galiouna Nassiopoulou

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Chemical Etching ◽

Light Trapping ◽

Si Nanowires ◽

Si Solar Cells ◽

Type C ◽

Environmental Sustainability of Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching of Silicon Nanowires for Lithium-Ion Battery Anode

Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage ◽

10.1115/1.4044957 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Fenfen Wang ◽

Xianfeng Gao ◽

Lulu Ma ◽

Chris Yuan

Keyword(s):

Lithium Ion Battery ◽

Silicon Nanowires ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Ag Nanoparticles ◽

Chemical Etching ◽

Lithium Ion ◽

Process Data ◽

Sustainability Performance ◽

Si Wafer

Abstract Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with three different average diameters of 90, 120, and 140 nm were synthesized by a metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) method. Environmental sustainability of the MACE process was studied by investigating material consumptions, gas emissions, and silver nanoparticle concentrations in nitric acid solutions for 1 g of SiNWs and 1 kW h of lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes. It was found that the process for 90 nm SiNWs has the best sustainability performance compared with the other two processes. Specifically, in this study for 1 g of 90 nm SiNWs, 8.845 g of Si wafer is consumed, 1.09 g of H2 and 1.04 g of NO are produced, and 54.807 mg of Ag nanoparticles are found in the HNO3 solution. Additionally, for 1 kW h of LIB electrodes, the process for 90 nm SiNWs results in 1.943 kg of Si wafer consumption, 239.455 g of H2 and 239.455 g of NO emissions, and 12.040 g of Ag nanoparticles concentrations. By quantitatively investigating the material consumptions and emissions, this study assesses the sustainability performance of the MACE process for synthesizing SiNWs for use in LIBs, and thus it provides process data for the analysis and the development of sustainable production methods for SiNWs and similar anode materials for next-generation LIBs.

Role of Ag-catalyst morphology and molarity of AgNO3 on the size control of Si nanowires produced by metal-assisted chemical etching

Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals ◽

10.1080/15421406.2019.1578513 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 674 (1) ◽

pp. 69-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Stepan Nichkalo ◽

Anatoly Druzhinin ◽

Oleksandr Ostapiv ◽

Mykola Chekaylo

Keyword(s):

Chemical Etching ◽

Size Control ◽

Si Nanowires ◽

Catalyst Morphology ◽

Ag Catalyst

Si nanowires by a single-step metal-assisted chemical etching process on lithographically defined areas: formation kinetics

Nanoscale Research Letters ◽

10.1186/1556-276x-6-597 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Androula Galiouna Nassiopoulou ◽

Violetta Gianneta ◽

Charalambos Katsogridakis

Keyword(s):

Chemical Etching ◽

Single Step ◽

Etching Process ◽

Si Nanowires ◽

Formation Kinetics ◽

Peculiarities of Photoluminescence in Porous Silicon Prepared by Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching

ISRN Optics ◽

10.5402/2012/958412 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Igor Iatsunskyi ◽

Valentin Smyntyna ◽

Nykolai Pavlenko ◽

Olga Sviridova

Keyword(s):

Porous Silicon ◽

Chemical Etching ◽

Etching Time ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Porous Layers ◽

Atomic Force ◽

Silicon Nanostructure ◽

Concentrated Solution ◽

P Type

Photoluminescent (PL) porous layers were formed on p-type silicon by a metal-assisted chemical etching method using H2O2 as an oxidizing agent. Silver particles were deposited on the (100) Si surface prior to immersion in a solution of HF and H2O2. The morphology of the porous silicon (PS) layer formed by this method was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Depending on the metal-assisted chemical etching conditions, the macro- or microporous structures could be formed. Luminescence from metal-assisted chemically etched layers was measured. It was found that the PL intensity increases with increasing etching time. This behaviour is attributed to increase of the density of the silicon nanostructure. It was found the shift of PL peak to a green region with increasing of deposition time can be attributed to the change in porous morphology. Finally, the PL spectra of samples formed by high concentrated solution of AgNO3 showed two narrow peaks of emission at 520 and 550 nm. These peaks can be attributed to formation of AgF and AgF2 on a silicon surface.

Pathway of Porous Silicon Formation Inside Si Nanowires Throughout Metal Assisted Etching

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2012.727 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1408 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alexander A. Tonkikh ◽

Nadine Geyer ◽

Bodo Fuhrmann ◽

Hartmut S. Leipner ◽

Peter Werner

Keyword(s):

Porous Silicon ◽

Molecular Beam Epitaxy ◽

Chemical Etching ◽

Molecular Beam ◽

Semiconductor Surface ◽

Si Nanowires ◽

Dissolution Reaction ◽

Hole Current ◽

Selective Formation

ABSTRACTThe selective formation of porous silicon in nanowires is observed in Si/Ge epitaxial layers along Ge layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a Si(100) substrate after metal-assisted chemical etching in aqueous HF-H2O2 solution. We assume that Ge layers serve as channels for a hole current out of the semiconductor to sustain the dissolution reaction. The tunnelling of holes through the potential barrier at the semiconductor surface is assumed to be the dominating mechanism of the hole transfer to the electrolyte.