Large-scale nanostructured porous silicon layers using silicon as counter electrode in the anodization process

Abstract Fabrication of porous silicon (PSi) with varying porosities can be created through an electrochemical etching process using diluted hydrofluoric acid. Traditionally, platinum has been used as the counter electrode in this process, but it can be quite costly. In this work, a new modification in the electrochemical etching process was developed. The modification involves utilizing a heavily doped Si substrate as the counter electrode to fabricate a large-scale nanostructured PSi layer. This is a crucial advancement as it eliminates the need for expensive platinum wire and enables the creation of a uniform porous silicon layer on a larger scale. The morphology, optical and electrical properties of the PSi samples using Si and platinum electrodes were studied, and the results indicate that there is no significant difference between the two. With this new modification, it is now possible to fabricate large-scale nanostructured PSi layers using cost-effective procedures.