Rapid graphene oxide assisted chemical etching of silicon in HF/H2O2 solution

In recent years, graphene oxide assisted etching silicon has been considered a potential method to replace metal-assisted chemical etching. This work demonstrated the catalytic ability of graphene oxide synthesized by the Hummers method to promote chemical etching of silicon. By adjusting HF/H2O2 ratio of the solution and reaction temperature, a minimum weighted average reflectance of 9.9% in the wavelength range of 300–1100 nm was obtained. An etching rate of 10 μm h−1, faster than those in others' reports, was obtained in an optimized acidic solution at 80 °C. Finally, a four-electron model for graphene oxide assisted etching mechanism was proposed to explain our research results.