Silicon nanowires obtained by metal-assisted chemical etching for photonic applications

Abstract

The arising of new physical phenomena at the nanoscale promoted for the scientific community the emerging of silicon nanostructures for future challenging technologies involving innovative applications in light management and photonics. Silicon nanowires (Si NWs) are already considered strategic systems for very different applications such as microelectronics, energy, and sensors. Nonetheless, the use of Si NWs for photonic applications is very limited. The reason for these poor results in the photonic field is related to the fabrication methods that generally are used to obtain silicon nanowires. One of the most promising approaches to realize Si NWs with a low-cost and Si technology compatibility is metal-assisted chemical etching. In this paper, we report a review of silicon nanowires realized by metal chemical etching for photonic applications focusing our attention on the realization of light-emitting Si NWs.

KEYWORDS:

• Silicon nanowires
• photonics
• metal-assisted chemical etching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Antonio Alessio Leonardi

Antonio Alessio Leonardi received his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Catania in 2020. His research focuses on the realization of luminescent Si nanowires for photonics and sensing applications.

Maria José Lo Faro

Maria Jose Lo Faro got his Ph.D. in Material Science and Nanotechnologies at the University of Catania in 2018. She consolidated her experience in the field of nanostructures for integrated silicon Photonics.

Emanuele Sciuto

Emanuele Sciuto got his Ph.D. in Material Science and Nanotechnologies at the University of Catania in 2018 and now he works as Researcher in Chemistry at the University of Messina.

Sabrina Conoci

Sabrina Conoci is full professor at the Messina University. Her interest is focused on the realization of innovative nanomolecular Devices, Biosensors and Biotechnology.

Barbara Fazio

Barbara Fazio is a senior researcher at CNR in Messina. Her expertise is on Raman scattering and optical properties of materials for Plasmonics and Photonics, and on development of optical setup.

Alessia Irrera

Alessia Irrera is a senior researcher at CNR in Messina. Her interest is the realization of innovative sensor based on Si nanostructures and room temperature optical properties of nanostructures.