Pore Etching in III-V and II-VI Semiconductor Compounds in Neutral Electrolyte

Abstract

We propose to use a neutral electrolyte based on an aqueous solution of instead of commonly used aggressive acids or alkaline electrolytes for the purpose of electrochemical nanostructuring of and substrates. It is shown that the process of material porosification can be controlled by the conditions of anodic etching. A photoluminescence analysis of the porous structures obtained and referenced to the as-grown substrate demonstrates that an effective passivation of the surface occurs during anodization in this electrolyte. The results obtained pave the way for the development of optoelectronic devices based on electrochemically nanostructured and compounds, particularly for high-efficiency solar cells.