Silver catalysis in the fabrication of silicon nanowire arrays

A method involving dry deposition plus wet chemical etching was devised to fabricate silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays and to study silver catalysis during fabrication. Through investigation of the track of catalyst particles, it was shown that Ag really catalyses the etching of silicon underneath Ag, which clarifies doubts about the formation of SiNW arrays during wet chemical etching. The intrinsic properties of Ag and the network structure of Ag clusters during etching facilitate the etching process. The etching product, i.e. vertical SiNW arrays containing an Ag nanocluster mesh, could be considered as a prototype secondary composite nanostructured catalyst with promise for future applications.