Wafer-Scale Fabrication of Silicon Nanocones via Controlling Catalyst Evolution in All-Wet Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching
Chen-Yu Bian, Bingchang Zhang, Zhenghe Zhang, Hui Chen, Dake Zhang, Shaojun Wang, Jing Ye, Le He, Jiansheng Jie, Xiaohong Zhang
Abstract
concentration due to the accelerated cathode process and inhibited anode process in Ag/Si microscopic galvanic cells. The successive decrease of Ag particle sizes causes the proportionate increase of diameters of the etched Si nanostructures, forming SiNC arrays. The SiNC arrays exhibit a stronger light-trapping ability and better photoelectrochemical performance compared with Si nanowire arrays. SiNCs were fabricated by using n-type 1-10 Ω cm Si(100) wafers in this work. Though the specific experimental conditions for preparing SiNCs may differ when using different Si wafers, the summarized diagram will still provide valuable guidance for morphology control of Si nanostructures in MACE processes.