Fabrication of porous silicon nanowires by MACE method in HF/H(2)O(2)/AgNO(3) system at room temperature

In this paper, the moderately and lightly doped porous silicon nanowires (PSiNWs) were fabricated by the ‘one-pot procedure’ metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) method in the HF/H(2)O(2)/AgNO(3) system at room temperature. The effects of H(2)O(2) concentration on the nanostructure of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were investigated. The experimental results indicate that porous structure can be introduced by the addition of H(2)O(2) and the pore structure could be controlled by adjusting the concentration of H(2)O(2). The H(2)O(2) species replaces Ag(+) as the oxidant and the Ag nanoparticles work as catalyst during the etching. And the concentration of H(2)O(2) influences the nucleation and motility of Ag particles, which leads to formation of different porous structure within the nanowires. A mechanism based on the lateral etching which is catalyzed by Ag particles under the motivation by H(2)O(2) reduction is proposed to explain the PSiNWs formation.