Fabrication of Silicon Nanowires by Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching Combined with Micro-Vibration

In this work, we design a micro-vibration platform, which combined with the traditional metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE) to etch silicon nanowires (SiNWs). The etching mechanism of SiNWs, including in the mass-transport (MT) and charge-transport (CT) processes, was explored through the characterization of SiNW's length as a function of MaCE combined with micro-vibration conditions, such as vibration amplitude and frequency. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) experimental results indicated that the etching rate would be continuously improved with an increase in amplitude and reached its maximum at 4 & mu;m. Further increasing amplitude reduced the etching rate and affected the morphology of the SiNWs. Adjusting the vibration frequency would result in a maximum etching rate at a frequency of 20 Hz, and increasing the frequency will not help to improve the etching effects.

Automated summary

In this study, a micro-vibration platform was designed to etch silicon nanowires (SiNWs) using the metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE) technique. The etching mechanism of SiNWs was investigated by characterizing the SiNW's length as a function of MaCE combined with micro-vibration conditions such as vibration amplitude and frequency. The experimental results using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the etching rate was continuously improved with increasing amplitude and reached its maximum at 4 μm. Increasing the frequency did not help to improve the etching effects.