Ordered Silicon Microwire Arrays Grown from Substrates Patterned Using Imprint Lithography and Electrodeposition
Abstract
Silicon microwires grown by the vapor–liquid–solid process have attracted a great deal of interest as potential light absorbers for solar energy conversion. However, the research-scale techniques that have been demonstrated to produce ordered arrays of micro and nanowires may not be optimal for use as high-throughput processes needed for large-scale manufacturing. Herein we demonstrate the use of microimprint lithography to fabricate patterned templates for the confinement of an electrodeposited Cu catalyst for the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth of Si microwires. A reusable polydimethylsiloxane stamp was used to pattern holes in silica sol–gels on silicon substrates, and the Cu catalyst was electrodeposited into the holes. Ordered arrays of crystalline p-type Si microwires were grown across the sol–gel-patterned substrates with materials quality and performance comparable to microwires fabricated with high-purity metal catalysts and cleanroom processing.
Additional Information
© 2015 American Chemical Society. Received: October 17, 2014; Accepted: January 6, 2015; Publication Date (Web): January 6, 2015. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant NSF-1214152), BP, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and DARPA. H.A.A. also acknowledges partial support from Dow Chemical. This work was partially performed at the Kavli Nanoscience Institute at the California Institute of Technology.Attached Files
Supplemental Material - am507200j_si_001.pdf
Files
Name | Size | Download all |
---|---|---|
md5:561c5cb48190a8535d575eb910b637f6
|
337.7 kB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 53854
- DOI
- 10.1021/am507200j
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20150120-082307878
- NSF
- NSF-1214152
- BP
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- Dow Chemical
- Created
-
2015-01-20Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Kavli Nanoscience Institute