Silver-assisted electroless etching mechanism of silicon

✍ Scribed by Douani, R. ;Si-Larbi, K. ;Hadjersi, T. ;Megouda, N. ;Manseri, A.

• Book ID: 105364457
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 876 KB
• Volume: 205
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0031-8965
• DOI: 10.1002/pssa.200723159

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The morphology of metal‐assisted electroless etched n‐type silicon in HF–oxidizing agent–H~2~O etching system as a function of oxidizing type and etching time was studied. Three types of oxidizing agent were investigated: Na~2~S~2~O~8~, K~2~Cr~2~O~7~ and KMnO~4~. The layers formed on silicon were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis. It is shown that the morphology of the etched layers depends strongly on the type of oxidizing agent. The secondary ion mass spectra of the etched layers reveal that the deposited silver diffuses into the etched layers during etching. Finally, a discussion on the dissolution mechanism of silicon by silver‐assisted electroless etching is presented. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)