The Development of High-Density Vertical Silicon Nanowires and Their Application in a Heterojunction Diode

Abstract

Vertically aligned p-type silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays were fabricated through metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) of Si wafers. An indium tin oxide/indium zinc oxide/silicon nanowire (ITO/IZO/SiNW) heterojunction diode was formed by depositing ITO and IZO thin films on the vertically aligned SiNW arrays. The structural and electrical properties of the resulting ITO/IZO/SiNW heterojunction diode were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and current−voltage (I−V) measurements. Nonlinear and rectifying I−V properties confirmed that a heterojunction diode was successfully formed in the ITO/IZO/SiNW structure. The diode had a well-defined rectifying behavior, with a rectification ratio of 550.7 at 3 V and a turn-on voltage of 2.53 V under dark conditions.

Effects of silver nanoparticles layer thickness towards properties of black silicon fabricated by metal-assisted chemical etching for photovoltaics

“…When the Ag NPs layer thickness increases to 5.1 µm, WAR decreases further to 5.5% after etching process. This is attributed to the increased density of the b-Si nanowires on the c-Si surface as reported by other research findings [29,30]. For 40 s deposition time (with Ag NPs layer thickness of 1.5 µm), the WAR increases to 13.3% after etching.…”

High-Performance Chlorophyll-b/Si Nanowire Heterostructure for Self-Biasing Bioinorganic Hybrid Photodetectors

“…The formation of Si NW arrays can be explained using the electrochemical reaction mechanism in a HF and H 2 O 2 solution . 26 In a nutshell, Au NPs coated on a p-Si substrate acted as a catalyst in the HF and H 2 O 2 solution and proceed deep into the Si substrate with time, while the uncoated region remains unaffected in the etching solution. Thus, selective etching below the Au NPs results in the formation of vertically oriented Si NW arrays.…”