Automatic release of silicon nanowire arrays with a high integrity for flexible electronic devices.
Automatic release and vertical transferring of silicon/silicon oxide nanowire arrays with a high integrity are demonstrated by an Ag-assisted ammonia etching method. By adding a water steaming step between Ag-assisted HF/H2O2 and ammonia etching to form a SiOx protective layer sheathing Si nanowires, we can tune the composition of the nanowires from SiOx (0 ≤ x ≤ 2) to Si nanowires. Ag plays a key role to the neat and uniform release of Si/SiOx nanowire arrays from Si wafer in the ammonia etching process. The vertical Si nanowire array device, with both sides having high-quality Ohmic contact, can be transferred to arbitrary substrates, especially on a flexible substrate. The method developed here offers a facile method to realize flexible Si nanowire array functional devices.
Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Institute of Solid State Physics, and Key Laboratory of New Thin Film Solar Cells, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China.
Luo
L
Wu
Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Institute of Solid State Physics, and Key Laboratory of New Thin Film Solar Cells, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China.
Shuxin
S
Li
Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Institute of Solid State Physics, and Key Laboratory of New Thin Film Solar Cells, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China.
Weiwei
W
He
Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Institute of Solid State Physics, and Key Laboratory of New Thin Film Solar Cells, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China.
Dayong
D
Teng
Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Institute of Solid State Physics, and Key Laboratory of New Thin Film Solar Cells, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China.
Ke
K
Wang
Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Institute of Solid State Physics, and Key Laboratory of New Thin Film Solar Cells, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, P. R. China.
Changhui
C
Ye