Anisotropic etching of p-Si in HF solution

In situ electrochemical attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy has been used to study the etching process on a Si (100), (110) and (111) surface in dilute HF solution. On the other hand I-V characteristic of the p-Si-HF system was used for the interface reactions and kinetics study. Infrared results show that monohydride (SiH) and hydroxyl (Si-OH) species surface concentration depend on the applied potential to the electrode. I-V characteristics show a relative variation in magnitude of the first peak as the substrate orientation is changed. A mechanism of silicon dissolution is proposed (Authors)