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Silver‐assisted electroless etching mechanism of silicon
Author(s) -
Douani R.,
SiLarbi K.,
Hadjersi T.,
Megouda N.,
Manseri A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.200723159
Subject(s) - oxidizing agent , etching (microfabrication) , dissolution , silicon , reactive ion etching , scanning electron microscope , materials science , morphology (biology) , chemical engineering , metal , isotropic etching , nanotechnology , chemistry , metallurgy , composite material , layer (electronics) , organic chemistry , biology , engineering , genetics
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)