Metal-Catalyzed Electroless Etching of Silicon in Aerated HF/H2O Vapor for Facile Fabrication of Silicon Nanostructures

• Published in: Nano letters 2014-08, Vol.14 (8), p.4212-4219
• Main Authors: Hu, Ya, Peng, Kui-Qing, Qiao, Zhen, Huang, Xing, Zhang, Fu-Qiang, Sun, Rui-Nan, Meng, Xiang-Min, Lee, Shuit-Tong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalytic methods; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Materials science; Methods of nanofabrication; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Physics; Quantum wires; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl500361u

Inspired by metal corrosion in air, we demonstrate that metal-catalyzed electroless etching (MCEE) of silicon can be performed simply in aerated HF/H2O vapor for facile fabrication of three-dimensional silicon nanostructures such as silicon nanowires (SiNW) arrays. Compared to MCEE commonly performed in aqueous HF solution, the present pseudo gas phase etching offers exceptional simplicity, flexibility, environmental friendliness, and scalability for the fabrication of three-dimensional silicon nanostructures with considerable depths because of replacement of harsh oxidants such as H2O2 and AgNO3 by environmental-green and ubiquitous oxygen in air, minimum water consumption, and full utilization of HF.