Ellipsometric study of the influence of chemical etching on thin porous silicon structures

The effect of chemical etching on Porous Silicon (PS) samples is studied and quantified by using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE). The main aim of this work is to assess the impact of such etching on the physical properties of electrochemically etched, thin PS antireflection coatings (ARC) for solar cell applications. In this study, detailed models of PS layers etched at constant current densities are created using a graded uniaxial Bruggeman Effective Medium Approximation (BEMA). Changes in porosity, thickness, and optical anisotropy of the PS samples due to chemical etching are determined as a function of etching time after PS formation. Three series of PS films, etched at three different current densities, are investigated. It is shown that significant changes in physical properties occur for chemical etching times longer than ~ 60 s. The anodic etching process for fabricating PS ARC structures can be performed in less than 10 s. Therefore, chemical etching does not lead to significant deviations from the intended PS structure and is not seen as a hindrance to accurate control of processes for fabricating thin PS ARCs.