Formation of Mosaic Silicon Oxide Structure during Metal-Assisted Electrochemical Etching of Silicon at High Current Density

Semiconductor-to-Metal-like Behavior of Si with Dopant Concentration—An Electrochemical Investigation and Illustration with Surface Hydride Formation and Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…The electrochemistry of the semiconductor/electrolyte interface has a wide range of applications in photoelectrochemical cells (PEC), semiconductor technology, photoplating, and electrochemical energy-storage devices. − Among the semiconductors, Si is the most investigated and anodic processes such as dissolution, passivation, electrochemical etching, and electrochemical oscillations on the Si electrode relevant to the semiconductor technology are widely reported. − On the other hand, cathodic processes, such as hydride formation and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), are not well-characterized and are much less understood. These processes are highly relevant to PEC, photoplating, and Si-based electrochemical energy storage in lithium-ion batteries. ,− The research activities on such cathodic reactions on Si have significantly increased in the recent years.…”

“…These processes are highly relevant to PEC, photoplating, and Si-based electrochemical energy storage in lithium-ion batteries. ,− The research activities on such cathodic reactions on Si have significantly increased in the recent years. This is because of the industry’s initiative to use copper instead of aluminum and silver for microdevices and photovoltaic applications, respectively, and because of huge impetus toward producing hydrogen using solar energy. − Moreover, HER in an aqueous electrolyte affects all the electrode processes on silicon such as metal deposition, redox reactions, and cleaning; it is responsible for low deposition efficiencies, brittleness, and porosity of the deposited film . At the same time, semiconductors offer the possibility of producing hydrogen from water by photoinduced electrolysis.…”