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Al catalyzed growth of silicon nanowires and subsequent in situ dry etching of the catalyst for photovoltaic application

✍ Scribed by Kohen, David ;Tileli, Vasiliki ;Cayron, Cyril ;Faucherand, Pascal ;Morin, Christine ;Dufourcq, Joël ;Noël, Sébastien ;Levis, Michel ;Brioude, Arnaud ;Perraud, Simon


Book ID
105366527
Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
2011
Tongue
English
Weight
534 KB
Volume
208
Category
Article
ISSN
0031-8965

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✦ Synopsis


Abstract

Aluminum‐catalyzed epitaxial growth of silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays was performed on Si wafer by chemical vapor deposition at 600 °C. The arrays showed a low optical total reflectance in the visible light spectrum, with a minimum of 2% around 450 nm wavelength. Following SiNW growth, dry etching of the Al catalyst was performed in situ using HCl chemistry at 600 °C. The effectiveness of aluminum etching was assessed by energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and by a controlled growth experiment. This SiNW array growth and subsequent catalyst dry etching opens up the possibility of an all in vacuum fabrication process of radial junction solar cells.

Al catalyst dry etching following growth using HCl gas at 600 °C.

magnified imageAl catalyst dry etching following growth using HCl gas at 600 °C.