Aligned single-crystalline Si nanowire arrays for photovoltaic applications

The preparation of high-quality single-crystal Si nanowires with desirable crystallographic orientation and doping characteristics by a simple chemical-etching technique was analyzed. The production of SiNW arrays includes cleaning of the original silicon wafers and immersion of the cleaned silicon wafers into a HF-based aqueous solution containing silver nitrate in sealed vessels and etching treatment. The chemical etching technique can be used for surface texturization of mono- and polycrystalline Si solar cells due to its weak dependence upon the crystallographic orientation and doping characteristics of Si substrates. It was found that the SiNW arrays can be used as an efficient antireflection coatings for a silicon solar cell including the substrate.