Role of Metal Nanoparticles on porosification of silicon by metal induced etching (MIE)

TL;DR

This paper investigates how silver nanoparticles influence silicon porosification via metal induced etching, revealing a direct correlation between nanoparticle coverage and surface porosity and nanowire density, advancing understanding of the etching mechanism.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the role of silver nanoparticles in silicon porosification during metal induced etching, highlighting the impact of nanoparticle coverage on surface porosity and nanowire formation.

Findings

AgNPs coverage directly correlates with surface porosity.

Density of silicon nanowires varies with AgNPs fractional coverage.

The etching mechanism involves electron transfer from Si to Ag+ and H2O2.

Abstract

Porosification of silicon (Si) by metal induced etching (MIE) process have been studies here to understand the etching mechanism. The etching mechanism has been discussed on the basis of electron transfer from Si to metal ion (Ag$^+$) and metal to H$_2$O$_2$. Role of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in the etching process has been investigated by studying the effect of AgNPs coverage on surface porosity. A quantitative analysis of SEM images, done using Image J, shows a direct correlation between AgNPs coverage and surface porosity after the porosification. Density of Si nanowires (NWs) also varies as a function of AgNPs fractional coverage which reasserts the fact that AgNPs governs the porosification process during MIE.