Vertically aligned silicon nanowires fabricated by electroless etching of silicon wafer

Abstract

Silicon nanowires were synthesized by electroless etching of Si(100) wafer using a mixture of hydrofluoric acid and silver nitrate. The formation of nanowires was catalyzed by silver nanoclusters deposit through an exchange reaction in which both silicon oxidation and silver reduction occur simultaneously on silicon surface. The etchant concentration, etching temperature and duration were well controlled in this work to produce a high aspect ratio of silicon nanowires. The morphological observation indicated that the fabricated silicon nanowires grown vertically on silicon surface. Moreover, a various shapes of rounded-, rectangular-, and triangle-shape are obtained co-exist in the bundle of silicon nanowires.