Investigation of Si(<i>h k l</i>) surfaces etched in KOH solutions saturated with<i>tertiary</i>-butyl alcohol

Rola, Krzysztof; Zubel, Irena

doi:10.1088/0960-1317/21/11/115026

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…On the other hand, with the reduction of η at 64% (C H2O2 = 0.65 M) in process, the inverted-pyramid Si textures with pronounced aspect ratio was formed owing to the existence of abundant H 2 O 2 for accelerating the cycling reaction of Cu deposition/dissolution. It should be noted that the etching rate of the Cu-induced cycling etching was more likely to be determined by breaking the surficial bonding of Si through an electroless displacement of Si with Cu 26 . Since there were no additional bias such as electric field or heat applied on this system, etching of Si was preferentially taken place at the energy-favorable sites in order to minimizing the energy barrier that was responsible for nucleation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid black silicon solar cells textured with the interplay of copper-induced galvanic displacement

Hung

Chen

2017

Sci Rep

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Metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE) has been widely employed for the fabrication of regular silicon (Si) nanowire arrays. These features were originated from the directional etching of Si preferentially along <100> orientations through the catalytic assistance of metals, which could be gold, silver, platinum or palladium. In this study, the dramatic modulation of etching profiles toward pyramidal architectures was undertaken by utilizing copper as catalysts through a facile one-step etching process, which paved the exceptional way on the texturization of Si for advanced photovoltaic applications. Detailed examinations of morphological evolutions, etching kinetics and formation mechanism were performed, validating the distinct etching model on Si contributed from cycling reactions of copper deposition and dissolution under a quasi-stable balance. In addition, impacts of surface texturization on the photovoltaic performance of organic/inorganic hybrid solar cells were revealed through the spatial characterizations of voltage fluctuations upon light mapping analysis. It was found that the pyramidal textures made by copper-induced cycling reactions exhibited the sound antireflection characteristics, and further achieved the leading conversion efficiency of 10.7%, approximately 1.8 times and beyond 1.2 times greater than that of untexturized and nanowire-based solar cells, respectively.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid black silicon solar cells textured with the interplay of copper-induced galvanic displacement

Hung

Chen

2017

Sci Rep

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“…The previous reports showed that the addition of butyl alcohols to the etching solution results in a high R(100)/R(hkl) etch rate ratio and a large reduction of convex corner undercut (Zubel and Kramkowska 2002;Rola and Zubel 2011). Therefore, in this paper, we study in detail the influence of butyl alcohols concentrations on surface morphologies and etch rates of (100) and (110) Si planes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Impact of alcohol additives concentration on etch rate and surface morphology of (100) and (110) Si substrates etched in KOH solutions

Rola

Zubel

2012

Microsyst Technol

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The influence of alcohol concentration on etch rate and surface morphology of (100) and (110) Si planes was investigated in this paper. The etching processes were carried out in KOH solutions with different concentrations of isopropanol and butanols. The etch rate minima versus alcohol concentration were observed for all the alcohols used in the experiments. Furthermore, close to the concentrations of etch rate minima, the smooth (110) planes were obtained. However, the (100) surfaces were covered with hillocks at these concentrations. Based on the surface tension measurements and literature reports, the explanation of appearance of the etch rate minimum was suggested. In the proposed model, the adsorption maximum corresponds to the complete formation of an alcohol monolayer on Si surface and, consequently, to the etch rate minimum. At higher concentrations of alcohol, the monolayer disappears and the etch rate increases.

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“…However, the {110} planes are patterned with stripes after etching in this solution. Saturation of the solution with butyl alcohols not only yields striped {110} planes, but also roughens the (100) surface [13]- [15]. Although the smoothness of (110) surface is improved at low alcohols concentrations (below the saturation level), the (100) surface is covered with pyramidal hillocks [16], [17].…”

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confidence: 99%

Triton Surfactant as an Additive to KOH Silicon Etchant

Rola

Zubel

2013

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

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Anisotropic etching of Si (100) and (110) planes in alkaline solutions containing the nonionic surfactant is studied in this paper. Triton X-100 surfactant, normally used for the modification of TMAH (tetramethylammonium hydroxide) etchant, is added to KOH (potassium hydroxide) solution. As a result, the (100) and (110) etch rates are significantly reduced and the etch rate ratio R(100)/R(110) >1 is obtained. The influence of KOH concentration (at 10 and 100 ppm (v/v) of the surfactant) on the etching process is also investigated. Low roughness of (110) surface is achieved in the 2 M KOH solution containing Triton. The smooth {110} sidewall planes inclined at 45°toward the (100) substrate are fabricated by etching in the KOH + Triton solution. The 45°{110} sidewalls are potentially attractive as MEMS micromirrors for optical beam reflection at an angle of 90°. The low etch rate of (100) plane is kind of a disadvantage of the fabrication method, but it can be fairly overcome by elevating the process temperature and stirring the etching solution.[ 2012-0371]Index Terms-Anisotropic etching, potassium hydroxide (KOH), silicon, surfactant, Triton X-100.

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Investigation of Si(h k l) surfaces etched in KOH solutions saturated withtertiary-butyl alcohol

Cited by 16 publications

References 29 publications

Hybrid black silicon solar cells textured with the interplay of copper-induced galvanic displacement

Hybrid black silicon solar cells textured with the interplay of copper-induced galvanic displacement

Impact of alcohol additives concentration on etch rate and surface morphology of (100) and (110) Si substrates etched in KOH solutions

Triton Surfactant as an Additive to KOH Silicon Etchant

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