Surface texturing of monocrystalline silicon (mono‐Si) wafers is essential for minimizing optical reflection and enhancing light absorption, thereby improving photovoltaic conversion efficiency. In this work, three novel ternary acid etching systems HF:HNO 3 :KMnO 4 (HNP), HF:H 2 SO 4 :KMnO 4 (HSP), and HF:H 2 O 2 :KMnO 4 (HHP) were investigated at a fixed volumetric ratio of 3:2:1 with etching durations of 1–3 min at room temperature. For comparison, conventional alkaline texturing using KOH:IPA:DI water (KOH etching) was also performed. The morphological, optical, and electrical properties of the textured wafers were systematically characterized using UV–vis reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and minority carrier diffusion parameters (MDP) lifetime measurements. Device‐level performance was further evaluated through PC‐1D simulation. Among the investigated systems, the HHP etchant exhibited superior texturing performance, reducing average reflectance from 30.1% for the planar surface to 8.2%, while maintaining a relatively high minority carrier lifetime of ≈25.6 μs, indicating reduced surface recombination. Compared to KOH:IPA:DI water texturing, HHP provided comparable or better optical and electrical properties. Moreover, the HHP system offers environmental advantages, as H 2 O 2 decomposes into benign by‐products (H 2 O and O 2 ), making it a sustainable and scalable approach for high‐efficiency mono‐Si solar cell fabrication.
Raman et al. (Mon,) studied this question.