Metal-Assisted chemically Etched silicon Nanowire Systems for Biochemical and Energy storage Applications

Abstract

Silicon nanowires are important building blocks for wide range of applications, such as nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, energy storage systems and biochemical applications. In this study, ordered and random Si nanowires were fabricated using interference lithography and metal-assisted chemical etching (IL-MACE) and glancing angle deposition and metal-assisted chemical etching (GLAD-MACE), respectively. The surface morphology and porosity of these metal-assisted chemically etched nanowires were investigated with various characterization techniques, including SEM, TEM, BET and thermoporometry. With high surface-to-volume ratio, the Si nanowire substrates were used to create high loading capacity platform for detection of DNA and protein using an analyte-specific homogeneous mixing strategy. The surface morphology of GLAD-MACE Si nanowires were tuned by different GLAD durations and surface drying methods to mimick the lotus effect and petal effect. Amorphous Si nanowires were also fabricated by IL-MACE and GLAD-MACE methods to systematically study their performance as anode material for Lithium-ion battery applications.