Enhanced ultraviolet to near-infrared absorption by two-tier structured silicon formed by simple chemical etching

Two-tier structured silicon with micron/nanometre scale features is fabricated by simple wet chemical etching. The structured silicon sample exhibits dramatically enhanced absorption from ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelength (250–2500?nm). Absorption is enhanced to near unity at wavelengths shorter than 1100?nm caused by the extremely suppressed reflection from the two-tier structured surface. Within the wavelength range from 1100 to 2500?nm, the sample exhibits a strong absorbance of 69.6% at 1100?nm and an average of 30% at longer wavelengths. By analyzing XPS spectra from the surface of the two-tier structured sample, we attribute this near-infrared absorption to band structure and morphological changes presented in the textured layer.     

Structural and spectroscopic characterization of porous silicon carbide formed by Pt-assisted electroless chemical etching

A novel electroless method of producing porous silicon carbide (PSiC) is presented. Unlike anodic methods of producing PSiC, the electroless process does not require electrical contact during etching. Rather, platinum metal deposited on the wafer before etching serves as a catalyst for the reduction of a chemical oxidant, which combined with UV illumination injects holes into the valence band, the holes subsequently participating in the oxidation and dissolution of the substrate. The etchant is composed of HF and K₂S₂O₈ in water. Various porous morphologies are presented as a function of etchant concentration, time of etching, and SiC polytype. Wafer quality is of the utmost concern when utilizing the electroless wet etchant, since defects such as stacking faults, dislocations, and micropipes have a large impact on the resulting porous structure. Results of imaging and spectroscopic characterization indicate that the porous morphologies produced in this manner should be useful in producing sensors and porous substrates for overgrowth of low dislocation density epitaxial material.     

GaN hexagonal pyramids formed by a photo-assisted chemical etching method

A series of experiments were conducted to systematically study the effects of etching conditions on GaN by a con-venient photo-assisted chemical （PAC） etching method. The solution concentration has an evident influence on the surface morphology of GaN and the optimal solution concentrations for GaN hexagonal pyramids have been identified. GaN with hexagonal pyramids have higher crystal quality and tensile strain relaxation compared with as-grown GaN. A detailed anal- ysis about evolution of the size, density and optical property of GaN hexagonal pyramids is described as a function of light intensity. The intensity of photoluminescence spectra of GaN etched with hexagonal pyramids significantly increases compared to that of as-grown GaN due to multiple scattering events, high quality GaN with pyramids and the Bragg effect.     

Photoluminescence of nanocrystalline silicon formed by rare-gas ion implantation

A new method is suggested for fabricating nanocrystalline silicon by using high-dose

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irradiation with rare-gas ions. In this case, a nanostructure is formed due to silicon self-assembling on the interface between amorphous layer and crystalline substrate. Two bands, at 720 and 930 nm, are found in the photoluminescence spectrum. These bands possibly originate from the quantum confinement effects in nanocrystals and may also be related to the regions of disordered silicon outside the amorphous layer containing nanocrystals. The intensity of the photoluminescence signal is studied as a function of duration of HF etching of samples and their subsequent exposure to atmosphere. The influence of thermal annealing on the photoluminescence spectrum is also studied.

     

Realization of silicon quantum wires by selective chemical etching and thermal oxidation

Ultra-fine silicon quantum wires with SiO₂ boundaries were successfully fabricated by combining SiGe/Si heteroepitaxy, selective chemical etching and subsequent thermal oxidation. The results are observed by scanning electron microscopy. The present method provides a very controllable way to fabricate ultra-fine silicon quantum wires, which is fully compatible with silicon microelectronic technology. As one of the key processes of controlling the lateral dimensions of silicon quantum wires, the wet oxidation of silicon wires has been investigated, self-limiting wet oxidation phenomenon in silicon wires is observed. The characteristic of the oxidation retardation of silicon wires is discussed.     

Biological functionalization and patterning of porous silicon prepared by Pt-assisted chemical etching

Porous silicon fabricated via Pt-assisted chemical etching of p-type Si (1 0 0) in 1:1:1 EtOH/HF/H₂O₂ solution possesses a longer durability in air and in aqueous media than anodized one, which is advantageous for biomedical applications. Its surface SiHx (x = 1 and 2) species can react with 10-undecylenic acid completely under microwave irradiation, and subsequent derivatizations of the end carboxylic acid result in affinity capture of proteins. We applied two approaches to produce protein microarrays: photolithography and spotting. The former provides a homogeneous microarray with a very low fluorescence background, while the latter presents an inhomogeneous microarray with a high noise background.     

Laser-induced chemical etching of silicon in chlorine atmosphere

Laser-induced chemical etching of single-crystalline (100) Si in Cl₂ atmosphere has been investigated for continuous Ar⁺ and Kr⁺ laser irradiation at around 351 nm, and at 457.9, 488.0, 514.5, and 647.1 nm. For laser irradiances below 10⁵ W/cm² the etching mechanism is non-thermal, and is based on photo-generated electron-hole pairs within the Si surface and Cl atoms produced within the gas phase. The experimental results are compared with model calculations.     

Black Silicon nanostructures on silicon thin films prepared by reactive ion etching

In this letter, the application of dry etching to thin films on glass is described. The utilized （ICP-RIE） of SF6 and 02 is discussed and a demonstrated. prepare Black Silicon nanostructures on crystalline silicon reactive ion etching with an inductively coupled plasma remarkable increase in light absorption of about 70% is demonstrated.     

Microstructure array on Si and SiOx generated by micro-contact printing, wet chemical etching and reactive ion etching

A method, combining micro-contact printing (μCP), wet chemical etching and reactive ion etching (RIE), is reported to fabricate microstructures on Si and SiOx. Positive and negative structures were generated based on different stamps used for μCP. The reproducibility of the obtained microstructures shows the methodology reported herein could be useful in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), optical and biological sensing applications.     

Fabrication of silicon wafer with ultra low reflectance by chemical etching method

A pyramid and nanowire binary structure of monocrystalline silicon wafer was fabricated by chemical etching. Much lower reflectance of silicon wafer with this structure was obtained compared with that of single pyramid or nanowaire arrays. The morphology, reflectivity and etching thickness of this structure were studied, as well as the influence on them caused by etching time and thickness of silver film. An average reflectance of 0.9% was obtained under optimized condition. The formation mechanism of silicon nanowires was explained by experimental evidence.     

Schottky contact barrier height enhancement on p-type silicon by wet chemical etching

A wet chemical etch preceding the usual cleaning process has been found to yield Schottky barriers of high values on p-type silicon. This procedure produces a passivated surface layer which has resulted in Al/0-Si Schottky diodes with barrier height of 0.75 eV and ideality factor of 1.15. Measurements have confirmed the presence of electrically active donor-like states in this surface layer. The origin of the donor states is explained in terms of the deactivation of the boron acceptor by the formation ofH ⁺ B ^– pairs.     

Contribution to time-resolved enhanced chemical etching and simultaneous annealing of ion implantation amorphized silicon under intense laser irradiation

Surfaces of single-crystal silicon wafers are amorphized by high-dose phosphorous ion implantation. These surfaces of the wafers, immersed in concentrated KOH, are laser-chemically etched by pulse irradiation of a ruby laser. Simultaneously, the remaining parts of the amorphous layer are annealed. The time dependence of the etching process enhanced during pulse irradiation is recorded and analysed. Reasons for the etching rates which differ between amorphous and single-crystal silicon are given on the basis of experimental and numerical results.     

Laser-induced chemical etching of silicon in NF3 atmosphere

Chemical etching of single-crystal Si in an NF₃ atmosphere is performed by continuous irradiation with an Ar⁺ laser at 514.5 nm. The etching process proves to be a thermally stimulated chemical reaction between solid Si and NF₃ gas. The experimental results show how the depth and width of the etched grooves depend on laser power, scan speed, and gas pressure. The etch rates observed may exceed 25 m/s.     

Fabrication of nanostructured silicon surface using selective chemical etching

A two-stage process based on selective chemical etching induced by metal nanoclusters is used to fabricate nanostructured surfaces of silicon plates with a relatively low reflectance. At silicon surfaces covered with silver nanoclusters, the SERS effect is observed for rhodamine concentrations of about 10^–12 M. At certain technological parameters, the depth of the nanostructured layer weakly depends on the conditions for the two-stage etching, in particular, etching time. Under otherwise equal conditions for etching, the rate of the formation of textured layer in the p-type silicon is two times greater than the formation rate in the n-type silicon.     

Flat layered structure and improved photoluminescence emission from porous silicon microcavities formed by pulsed anodic etching

Single-mode, highly directional and stable photoluminescence (PL) emission has been achieved from porous silicon microcavities (PSMs) fabricated by pulsed electrochemical etching. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the narrow PL peak available from a freshly etched PSM is about 9 nm. The emission concentrates in a cone of 10° around the normal of the sample, with a further reduced FWHM of ∼5.6 nm under angle-resolved measurements. Only the resonant peak is present in such angle-resolved PL spectra. No peak broadening is found upon exposure of the freshly prepared PSM to a He-Cd laser beam, and the peak becomes somewhat narrower (∼5.4 nm) after the PSM has been stored in an ambient environment for two weeks. At optimized etching parameters, even a 4-nm FWHM is achievable for the freshly etched PSM. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) plane-view images reveal that the single layer porous Si formed by pulsed current etching is more uniform and flatter than that formed by direct current (dc) etching, demonstrated by the well-distributed circular pores with small size in the former in comparison with the irregular interlinking pores in the latter. The SEM cross-section images show the existence of oriented Si columns of 10 nm diameter along the etching direction within the active layer, good reproducibility and flat interfaces. It is thus concluded that pulsed current etching is superior to dc etching in obtaining flat interfaces within the distributed Bragg reflectors because of its minor lateral etching. Received: 7 March 2001 / Accepted: 23 July 2001 / Published online: 30 October 2001     

Structural and optical properties of thin films porous amorphous silicon carbide formed by Ag-assisted photochemical etching

In this work, we present the formation of porous layers on hydrogenated amorphous SiC (a-SiC: H) by Ag-assisted photochemical etching using HF/K₂S₂O₈ solution under UV illumination at 254 nm wavelength. The amorphous films a-SiC: H were elaborated by d.c. magnetron sputtering using a hot pressed polycrystalline 6H-SiC target. Because of the high resistivity of the SiC layer, around 1.6 MΩ cm and in order to facilitate the chemical etching, a thin metallic film of high purity silver (Ag) has been deposited under vacuum onto the thin a-SiC: H layer. The etched surface was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy and photoluminescence. The results show that the morphology of etched a-SiC: H surface evolves with etching time. For an etching time of 20 min the surface presents a hemispherical crater, indicating that the porous SiC layer is perforated. Photoluminescence characterization of etched a-SiC: H samples for 20 min shows a high and an intense blue PL, whereas it has been shown that the PL decreases for higher etching time. Finally, a dissolution mechanism of the silicon carbide in 1HF/1K₂S₂O₈ solution has been proposed.     

Patterning of porous silicon by metal-assisted chemical etching under open circuit potential conditions

Porous silicon is the most studied Si-based light-emitting material. The potential for the application of porous silicon in optoelectronics and also for chemical or biochemical sensing is high. Therefore, the successful patterning of porous silicon on Si wafers is of great interest. HF-based aqueous solutions containing H₂O₂ as oxidizing agent, in combination with appropriate metal deposition, can supply the necessary current in order to sustain the electrochemical etching of single crystalline Si under no external anodic bias. The H₂O₂ concentration can tune the etching rate of the Si wafers as well as the observed photoluminescence intensity and photon energy. We demonstrate that porous silicon growth can be preferentially initiated at sites where metal (Pt) has been deposited and effectively be confined there, in order to form a well-defined pattern of desired geometry. Conventional DC sputtering using stainless-steel masks was applied in order to test various patterning geometries and lengthscales. Photoluminescence spectroscopy, atomic force and optical microscopy were used in order to characterize the produced porous silicon patterns. This method could be a simple, cost-effective way for the production of porous silicon patterns on Si wafers, which could be used in various fields of application.     

Model of laser-induced chemical etching of silicon in chlorine atmosphere

A mathematical model for the chemical etching of silicon in a chlorine atmosphere induced by laser irradiation is described. The model takes into account: dissociation of molecules having absorbed radiant energy into chlorine atoms and their diffusion onto the substrate surface, generation of photocarriers in the silicon substrate, kinetics of chlorine atom chemisorption on the silicon surface, chemical reaction of chemisorbed chlorine atoms with silicon atoms, and desorption of reaction products. The obtained results are compared with experimental data.     

Applications of porous silicon formed by electrochemical etching using an electrolyte based on HF:formaldehyde

In this work, we report the experimental results on the formation of porous silicon (PSi) monolayers by electrochemical etching using a formaldehyde based electrolyte. The results were compared with PSi monolayers obtained with the traditional electrolyte (HF:ethanol). Both electrolytes facilitate the removal of H₂ generated as a subproduct during the electrochemical etching process in the surface of the c-Si substrate. Formaldehyde presents a good affinity to surfaces and interfaces and the excess of water in the electrolyte reduces the pore sizes of PSi samples. The porosity and etching rate values are similar than those obtained using HF:et solutions. The refractive index values are the same in both cases at the same porosity in the visible range. The results have shown that the chemical characteristics of the ethanol and formaldehyde can give some different advantages to the PSi process and its applications.