Fabrication and characterization of porous silicon nanowires

We report the synthesis of porous silicon nanowires through the metalassisted chemical etching of porous silicon in a solution of hydrofluoric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The morphology of porous silicon nanowires was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The etch rate of the porous silicon nanowires was faster than that of silicon nanowires, but slower than that of porous silicon. The porous silicon nanowires distributed uniformly on the entire porous silicon layer and the tips of the porous silicon nanowires congregated together. The single crystalline and sponge-like porous structure with the pore diameters of less than 5 nm was confirmed for the porous silicon nanowires.