Polygonal pits on silicon surfaces that are created by laser-assisted chemical etching

Laser-assisted chemical etching was conducted for creating periodic textures on silicon surfaces. Silicon plates with the (111) surface orientation were immersed in an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide, and a pulsed laser beam (532 nm wavelength, 5 ns duration, 10 pulse/s) was irradiated on their surface to promote anisotropic etching. The laser beam was patterned by using a glass capillary plate that contained a hexagonal array of micropores ( 10 μ m diameter, 12 μ m period). The focused beam projected the hexagonal image on the silicon surface, creating bright spots of 4 μ m period. During the laser irradiation process of 3 min, both laser-induced ablation and chemical etching took place at these bright spots. After stop of laser irradiation, the chemical etching progressed further, and consequently, a periodic array of triangular or hexagonal pits emerged on the silicon surface. The direction of the triangular pits changed by rotation of the silicon plate. When a silicon plate with the (100) surface orientation was used, diamond or rectangular pits were created on its surface. The mechanism of this polygonal texturing was explained by using the normal and intersecting vectors of the (100), (110), and (111) planes that exhibited different etching rates.