Abstract
We demonstrated a novel, simple, and low-cost method to fabricate silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays and silicon nanohole (SiNH) arrays based on thin silver (Ag) film dewetting process combined with metal-assisted chemical etching. Ag mesh with holes and semispherical Ag nanoparticles can be prepared by simple thermal annealing of Ag thin film on a silicon substrate. Both the diameter and the distribution of mesh holes as well as the nanoparticles can be manipulated by the film thickness and the annealing temperature. The silicon underneath Ag coverage was etched off with the catalysis of metal in an aqueous solution containing HF and an oxidant, which form silicon nanostructures (either SiNW or SiNH arrays). The morphologies of the corresponding etched SiNW and SiNH arrays matched well with that of Ag holes and nanoparticles. This novel method allows lithography-free fabrication of the SiNW and SiNH arrays with control of the size and distribution.
Highlights
Silicon nanostructures such as silicon nanowire (SiNW), nanocone, or nanohole (SiNH) arrays have attracted intensive attention due to their unique optical, electrical, and thermal properties for promising applications in the fields of solar cells [1,2,3,4,5,6], field-effect transistors [7], as well as chemical and biological sensors [8,9]
We present a facile method to fabricate SiNW arrays as well as silicon nanohole (SiNH) arrays based on metal film dewetting process, which dramatically simplifies the fabrication process by avoiding complicated lithography patterning process
Dewetting process of Ag films Dewetting process of thin film on a solid substrate has been well investigated in the past decades [22,23,24,25]
Summary
Silicon nanostructures such as silicon nanowire (SiNW), nanocone, or nanohole (SiNH) arrays have attracted intensive attention due to their unique optical, electrical, and thermal properties for promising applications in the fields of solar cells [1,2,3,4,5,6], field-effect transistors [7], as well as chemical and biological sensors [8,9]. Besides their intrinsic characteristics inherited from bulk silicon, the morphologies and distribution of the nanostructures play a dominant role on their properties. The as-fabricated Si nanostructures match well with the self-patterned metal structure
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