Abstract
In this paper, nickel nanoparticles (Ni NPs) were deposited on planar silicon and pyramidal silicon wafers by the magnetron sputtering method, and then these Ni NP-covered samples were etched in a hydrofluoric acid, hydrogen peroxide, and deionized water mixed solution at room temperature to fabricate a low reflective silicon surface. An alumina (Al2O3) film was then deposited on the surface of the as-etched pyramidal sample by atomic layer deposition to further reduce the reflectance. The morphologies and compositions of these samples were studied by using a field emission scanning electron microscope attached to an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer. The surface reflectance measurements were carried out with a UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer in a wavelength range of 200–1100 nm. The SEM images show that the as-etched planar and pyramidal silicon samples were covered with many rhombic nanostructures and that some nanostructures on the planar silicon surface were ready to exhibit a flower-like burst. The reflectances of the as-etched planar and pyramidal silicon samples were 5.22 % and 3.21 % in the wavelength range of 400–800 nm, respectively. After being coated with a 75-nm-thick Al2O3 film, the etched pyramidal silicon sample showed an even lower reflectance of 2.37 % from 400 nm to 800 nm.
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This work is supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (61176062), funding from the Jiangsu Innovation Program for Graduate Education (CXLX11_0191) and a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.
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Yue, Z., Shen, H., Jiang, Y. et al. Novel and low reflective silicon surface fabricated by Ni-assisted electroless etching and coated with atomic layer deposited Al2O3 film. Appl. Phys. A 114, 813–817 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-7670-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-7670-y