Removal of Oxides and Surface Texturization of Crystalline Si Wafer by Ion Beam Etching

Abstract

Surface oxides of crystalline Si wafer (c-Si) has been etched by argon (Ar) ion beam (IB) bombarding. The contact angles of water droplet (WCA) on the c-Si wafer, before and after IB etching, have been measured. It’s been observed that the c-Si wafer surfaces turn to hydrophobic after IB etching. This may be due to a surface texturization by ions bombarding. The cleanliness of wafer surfaces has been evaluated as well. It is speculated that IB etching may be an alternative to hydrofluoric acid (HF) in terms of Si oxides removal and be advantageous because of its non-chemical hazardousness. The IB bombarding may also be applied to the fabrication of c-Si solar cells, for the purpose of forming the anti-reflection layer via texturization.