“…The semiconductor cleaning can be performed at room temperature using dilute (e.g., $0.03 wt%) solutions due to strong reactivity of cyanide ions (CN À ) to form stable metal-cyano complex ions. We have also found that CN À ions selectively react with semiconductor defect states such as Si dangling bonds, resulting in the defect passivation [21][22][23][24]. The defect passivation by CN À ions greatly improves www.elsevier.com/locate/apsusc Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Applied Surface Science 254 (2008) 3715-3720 conversion efficiencies of single crystalline Si [21], polycrystalline Si [22], and amorphous Si [23] solar cells, and decreases the density of a leakage current flowing through an ultrathin SiO 2 layer of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) diodes [24].…”