On the formation of black silicon in SF6-O2 plasma: The clear, oxidize, remove, and etch (CORE) sequence and black silicon on demand

Nguyen, Vy Thi Hoang; Jensen, Flemming; Hübner, Jörg; Leussink, Pele; Jansen, Henricus V.

doi:10.1116/6.0000196

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…As the gas pressure increases, the mean free path of the particles decreases and, therefore, the energy of the ions bombarding the surface will also decrease. At the same time, the width of the angular distribution of ions will increase 19 , 21 , 39 – 41 . In addition, at fixed values of gas mixture flow rate, increasing the pressure leads to increasing the dwell time of CAP at the processing surface, hence, the number of chemical reactions of CAP with Si will increase.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The advantage of this technique is the replacement of C x F y gases with oxygen. Oxygen passivation, unlike C x F y , is a self-limiting process and, therefore, the oxide thickness at the bottom of the etching window will be approximately the same for structures with different aspect ratios 19 – 21 . The key to the realization of such a process is to carry it out in a system that uses flat electrodes for plasma generation (capacitive coupling).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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OES diagnostics as a universal technique to control the Si etching structures profile in ICP

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Iankevich

Speshilova

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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In this work, we demonstrate the high efficiency of optical emission spectroscopy to estimate the etching profile of silicon structures in SF6/C4F8/O2 plasma. The etching profile is evaluated as a ratio of the emission intensity of the oxygen line (778.1 nm) to the fluorine lines (685.8 nm and 703.9 nm). It was found that for the creation of directional structures with line sizes from 13 to 100 μm and aspect ratio from ≈ 0.15 to ≈ 5 the optimal intensities ratio is in the range of 2–6, and for structures from 400 to 4000 μm with aspect ratio from ≈ 0.03 to ≈ 0.37 it is in the range 1.5–2. Moreover, the influence of the process parameters on the etching rate of silicon, the etching rate of aluminum, the inclination angle of the profile wall of the etched window, the selectivity of silicon etching with respect to aluminum, and the influence on the overetching (Bowing effect) of the structure was investigated.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

OES diagnostics as a universal technique to control the Si etching structures profile in ICP

Осипов

Iankevich

Speshilova

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…In this regard, BSi has been widely scrutinized for its noticeable textured surface with a light-trapping feature that can increase Si solar cell efficiency by reducing its reflectivity and boosting the absorption of incident photons [8]. To fulfill the criteria for developing BSi solar cell surface fabrication, several methods have been established, for instance, reactive ion etching [9], metal-assisted chemical etching [10], plasma etching [11], laser texturing [12], and wet chemical (anisotropic) etching [13], plasma immersion ion implantation, and atmospheric pressure dry texturing. Among them, one well-known method is metal nanoparticle-assisted chemical etching or metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of Black Silicon via Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching—A Review

et al. 2021

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The metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) technique is commonly employed for texturing the wafer surfaces when fabricating black silicon (BSi) solar cells and is considered to be a potential technique to improve the efficiency of traditional Si-based solar cells. This article aims to review the MACE technique along with its mechanism for Ag-, Cu- and Ni-assisted etching. Primarily, several essential aspects of the fabrication of BSi are discussed, including chemical reaction, etching direction, mass transfer, and the overall etching process of the MACE method. Thereafter, three metal catalysts (Ag, Cu, and Ni) are critically analyzed to identify their roles in producing cost-effective and sustainable BSi solar cells with higher quality and efficiency. The conducted study revealed that Ag-etched BSi wafers are more suitable for the growth of higher quality and efficiency Si solar cells compared to Cu- and Ni-etched BSi wafers. However, both Cu and Ni seem to be more cost-effective and more appropriate for the mass production of BSi solar cells than Ag-etched wafers. Meanwhile, the Ni-assisted chemical etching process takes a longer time than Cu but the Ni-etched BSi solar cells possess enhanced light absorption capacity and lower activity in terms of the dissolution and oxidation process than Cu-etched BSi solar cells.

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“…Various techniques have been developed to fabricate BSi solar cells to create a nanotextured surface for trapping light such as metal-assisted chemical etching [4], chemical anisotropic etching [5], plasma etching [6], reactive ion etching [7], and laser texturing [8]. However, the cost of femtosecond laser pulses and RIE methods are so high that they are not suitable for low cost and large-scale production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of Black Silicon Wafer through Wet Chemical Etching for Parametric Optimization in Enhancing Solar Cell Performance by PC1D Numerical Simulation

et al. 2021

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Black silicon (BSi) fabrication via surface texturization of Si-wafer in recent times has become an attractive concept regarding photon trapping and improved light absorption properties for photovoltaic applications. In this study, surface texturization has been conducted on mono-crystalline Si(100) wafer using a wet chemical anisotropic etching process with IPA:KOH solution to form micro-pyramidal surface structures. Moreover, the optimized properties of the fabricated BSi wafers are used for numerical simulation using PC1D software to analyze the performance of the solar cell and establish the correlation among relevant parameters. Effects such as doping concentration, texturization, passivation, and anti-reflection coating of BSi on the solar cell performance have numerically been investigated. Results show that textured surface obtained from the wet chemical anisotropic etching process has successfully reduced the reflectance of the BSi wafer and surpassed the solar cell efficiency by 2%, which is mainly attributed to the optical confinement of the textured pyramids on the surface with a height of 1–2 μm and angles of 70 degrees. Furthermore, the doping concentration of the p-type wafer and n-type emitter were optimized to be 1 × 1016 cm−3 and 1 × 1018 cm−3, respectively. In the case of device optimization, the SiO2 passivation layer with a refractive index of 1.48 and the Si3N4 ARC layer with a refractive index of 2.015 has been identified as the best combination for the solar cell performance. These optimized parameters eventually result in 23.14% conversion efficiency from numerical simulation for solar cells that use black silicon wafers as fabricated in this study.

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On the formation of black silicon in SF6-O2 plasma: The clear, oxidize, remove, and etch (CORE) sequence and black silicon on demand

Cited by 15 publications

References 38 publications

OES diagnostics as a universal technique to control the Si etching structures profile in ICP

OES diagnostics as a universal technique to control the Si etching structures profile in ICP

Fabrication of Black Silicon via Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching—A Review

Study of Black Silicon Wafer through Wet Chemical Etching for Parametric Optimization in Enhancing Solar Cell Performance by PC1D Numerical Simulation

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