The wettability between etching solutions and the surface of multicrystalline silicon wafer during metal-assisted chemical etching process

Abstract

In order to investigate the wettability of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) with the etching solutions during metal-assisted chemical etching process, different surface structures were fabricated on the p-type multi-wire slurry sawn mc-Si wafers, such as as-cut wafers, polished wafers, and wafers etched in different solutions. The contact angles of different etching solutions on the surfaces of the wafers were measured. It was noted that all contact angles of etching solutions were smaller than the corresponding ones of deionized water, but the contact angles of different etching solutions were quite different. Among the contact angles of the etching solutions of AgNO₃-HF, H₂O₂-HF, TMAH and HNO₃-HF, the contact angle of TMAH solution was much larger than the others and that of HNO₃-HF solution was much smaller. It is suggested that the larger contact angle may lead to an unevenly etching of silicon wafer due to the long retention of big bubbles on the wafers in the etching reaction, which should be paid attention to and overcome.