title: Regenerative Electroless Etching of Silicon.
abstract: Regenerative electroless etching (ReEtching), described herein for the first time, is a method of producing nanostructured semiconductors in which an oxidant (Ox1) is used as a catalytic agent to facilitate the reaction between a semiconductor and a second oxidant (Ox2) that would be unreactive in the primary reaction. Ox2is used to regenerate Ox1, which is capable of initiating etching by injecting holes into the semiconductor valence band. Therefore, the extent of reaction is controlled by the amount of Ox2added, and the rate of reaction is controlled by the injection rate of Ox2. This general strategy is demonstrated specifically for the production of highly luminescent, nanocrystalline porous Si from the reaction of V2O5in HF(aq) as Ox1and H2O2(aq) as Ox2with Si powder and wafers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, 19383-2115, USA.
authors.forename: Kurt W
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9469-2700
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kolasinski
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, 19383-2115, USA.
authors.forename: Nathan J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Gimbar
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269-3136, USA.
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269-3136, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6617-1409
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aindow
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Ermei
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8300-6533
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mäkilä
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Jarno
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5245-742X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salonen
keywords: electrochemistry; electroless etching; nanostructures; photoluminescence; porous silicon