Name: light enhanced hydrofluoric acid passivation: a sensitive technique for detecting bulk silicon defects
Uploaded: 2016-01-04T14:00:01
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Light Enhanced Hydrofluoric Acid Passivation: A Sensitive Technique for Detecting Bulk Silicon Defects at JoVE.com

This program has been supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Responsibility for the views, information or advice expressed herein is not accepted by the Australian Government.

1. Experimental Setup
<ol>
	<li>Locate a suitable fume hood for the measurement technique, and remove any irrelevant equipment to allow better air flow and reduce cluttering. Do not use any chemicals other than hydrofluoric acid (HF) in the fume hood.</li>
	<li>Test the quality of the deionized (DI) water from the tap within the fume hood using a conductivity meter. Ensure that the DI water has a conductance of at most 0.055 &#181;S/cm at a temperature of 20 &#176;C.</li>
	<li>Place a minority carrier ...

<ol>
	<li>Sinton, R. A., Cuevas, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Contactless+determination+of+current-voltage+characteristics+and+minority-carrier+lifetimes+in+semiconductors+from+quasi-steady-state+photoconductance+data.">Contactless determination of current-voltage characteristics and minority-carrier lifetimes in semiconductors from quasi-steady-state photoconductance data.</a> Appl. Phys. Lett. 69 (17), 2510-2512 (1996).</li><li>Wan, Y., McIntosh, K. R., Thomson, A. F., Cuevas, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Low+surface+recombination+velocity+by+low-absorption+silicon+nitride+on+c-Si.">Low surface recombination velocity by low-absorption silicon nitride on c-Si.</a> IEEE J. Photovoltaics. 3 (1), 554-559 (2013).</li><li>Hoex, B., Schmidt, J., Pohl, P., van de Sanden, M. C. M., Kessels, W. M. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Silicon+surface+passivation+by+atomic+layer+deposited+Al2O3.">Silicon surface passivation by atomic layer deposited Al2O3.</a> J. App. Phys. 104 (4), 044903 (2008).</li><li>Dauwe, S., Schmidt, J., Hezel, R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Very+low+surface+recombination+velocities+on+p.-+and+n.-type+silicon+wafers+passivated+with+hydrogenated+amorphous+silicon+films.">Very low surface recombination velocities on p.- and n.-type silicon wafers passivated with hydrogenated amorphous silicon films.</a> , 1246-1249 (2012).</li><li>Macdonald, D., Cuevas, A., Wong-Leung, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Capture+cross-sections+of+the+acceptor+level+of+iron-boron+pairs+in+p-type+silicon+by+injection-level+dependent+lifetime+measurements.">Capture cross-sections of the acceptor level of iron-boron pairs in p-type silicon by injection-level dependent lifetime measurements.</a> J. App. Phys. 89 (12), 7932-7339 (2001).</li><li>Schmidt, J., Bothe, K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Structure+and+transformation+of+the+metastable+boron-+and+oxygen-related+defect+center+in+crystalline+silicon.">Structure and transformation of the metastable boron- and oxygen-related defect center in crystalline silicon.</a> Phys. Rev. B. 69 (2), 024107 (2004).</li><li>Rougieux, F., Grant, N., Murphy, J., Macdonald, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=D.+Influence+of+Annealing+and+Bulk+Hydrogenation+on+Lifetime+Limiting+Defects+in+Nitrogen-Doped+Floating+Zone+Silicon.">D. Influence of Annealing and Bulk Hydrogenation on Lifetime Limiting Defects in Nitrogen-Doped Floating Zone Silicon.</a> IEEE J. Photovoltaics. 5 (2), 495-498 (2014).</li><li>Zheng, P., Rougieux, F., Grant, N., Macdonald, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Evidence+for+vacancy-related+Recombination+Active+Defects+in+as-grown+n-type+Czochralski+Silicon.">Evidence for vacancy-related Recombination Active Defects in as-grown n-type Czochralski Silicon.</a> IEEE J. Photovoltaics. 5 (1), 183-188 (2014).</li><li>Grant, N. E., Rougieux, F. E., Macdonald, D., Bullock, J., Wan, Y. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Grown-in+point+defects+limiting+the+bulk+lifetime+of+p.-type+float-zone+silicon+wafers.">Grown-in point defects limiting the bulk lifetime of p.-type float-zone silicon wafers.</a> J. App. Phys. 117 (5), 055711 (2015).</li><li>Hallam, B., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Hydrogen+passivation+of+B-O+defects+in+Czochralski+silicon.">Hydrogen passivation of B-O defects in Czochralski silicon.</a> Energy Procedia. 38, 561-570 (2013).</li><li>Hallam, B., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Advanced+bulk+defect+passivation+for+silicon+solar+cells.">Advanced bulk defect passivation for silicon solar cells.</a> IEEE J. Photovoltaics. 4 (1), 88-95 (2014).</li><li>Hornyi, T. S., Pavelka, T., Ttt, P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=In+situ+bulk+lifetime+measurement+on+silicon+with+a+chemically+passivated+surface.">In situ bulk lifetime measurement on silicon with a chemically passivated surface.</a> App. Surf. Sci. 63 (1-4), 306-311 (1993).</li><li>Meier, D. L., Page, M. R., Iwaniczko, E., Xu, Y., Wang, Q., Branz, H. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Determination+of+surface+recombination+velocities+for+thermal+oxide+and+amorphous+silicon+on+float+zone+silicon.">Determination of surface recombination velocities for thermal oxide and amorphous silicon on float zone silicon.</a> , (2007).</li><li>Chhabra, B., Bowden, S., Opila, R. L., Honsberg, C. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=High+effective+minority+carrier+lifetime+on+silicon+substrates+using+quinhydrone-methanol+passivation.">High effective minority carrier lifetime on silicon substrates using quinhydrone-methanol passivation.</a> App. Phys. Lett. 96 (6), 063502 (2010).</li><li>Chhabra, B., Weiland, C., Opila, R. L., Honsberg, C. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Surface+characterization+of+quinhydrone-methanol+and+iodine-methanol+passivated+silicon+substrates+using+X-ray+photoelectron+spectroscopy.">Surface characterization of quinhydrone-methanol and iodine-methanol passivated silicon substrates using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.</a> Phys. Stat. Sol. (a). 208 (1), 86-90 (2011).</li><li>Yablonovitch, E., Allara, D. L., Chang, C. C., Gmitter, T., Bright, T. B. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Unusually+low+surface+recombination+velocity+on+silicon+and+germanium+surfaces.">Unusually low surface recombination velocity on silicon and germanium surfaces.</a> Phys. Rev. Lett. 57 (2), 249-252 (1986).</li><li>Grant, N. E., McIntosh, K. R., Tan, J. T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Evaluation+of+the+bulk+lifetime+of+silicon+wafers+by+immersion+in+hydrofluoric+acid+and+illumination.">Evaluation of the bulk lifetime of silicon wafers by immersion in hydrofluoric acid and illumination.</a> J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 1 (2), P55-P61 (2012).</li><li>Grant, N. E., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Light+enhanced+hydrofluoric+acid+passivation+for+evaluating+silicon+bulk+lifetimes.">Light enhanced hydrofluoric acid passivation for evaluating silicon bulk lifetimes.</a> 28.th. European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference. , 883-887 (2013).</li><li>Grant, N. E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> Surface passivation and characterization of crystalline silicon by wet chemical treatments. , (2012).</li><li>Kern, W. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+evolution+of+silicon+wafer+cleaning+technology.">The evolution of silicon wafer cleaning technology.</a> J. Electrochem. Soc. 137 (6), 1887-1892 (1990).</li><li>Angermann, H., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Wet-chemical+passivation+of+atomically+flat+and+structured+silicon+substrates+for+solar+cell+application.">Wet-chemical passivation of atomically flat and structured silicon substrates for solar cell application.</a> App. Surf. Sci. 254 (12), 3615-3625 (2008).</li><li>Angermann, H., Henrion, W., Rseler, A., Rebien, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Wet-chemical+passivation+of+Si(111)-+and+Si(100)-substrates.">Wet-chemical passivation of Si(111)- and Si(100)-substrates.</a> Mat. Sci. Eng. B. 73 ((1-3)), 178-183 (2000).</li><li>Bertagna, V., Plougonven, C., Rouelle, F., Chemla, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=p-+and+n-type+silicon+electrochemical+properties+in+dilute+hydrofluoric+acid+solutions.">p- and n-type silicon electrochemical properties in dilute hydrofluoric acid solutions.</a> J. Electrochem. Soc. 143 (11), 3532-3538 (1996).</li><li>Bertagna, V., Erre, R., Rouelle, F., Chemla, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Ionic+components+dependence+of+the+charge+transfer+reactions+at+the+silicon/HF+solution+interface.">Ionic components dependence of the charge transfer reactions at the silicon/HF solution interface.</a> J. Solid State Electrochem. 4 (1), 42-51 (1999).</li><li>Kolasinski, K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+mechanism+of+Si+etching+in+fluoride+solutions.">The mechanism of Si etching in fluoride solutions.</a> Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 5 (6), 1270-1278 (2003).</li><li>Trucks, G. W., Raghavachari, K., Higashi, G. S., Chabal, Y. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Mechanism+of+HF+etching+of+silicon+surfaces:+A+theoretical+understanding+of+hydrogen+passivation.">Mechanism of HF etching of silicon surfaces: A theoretical understanding of hydrogen passivation.</a> Phys. Rev. Lett. 65 (4), 504-507 (1990).</li><li>Zhang, X. G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> Electrochemistry of silicon and its oxide. , (2001).</li></ol>

The successful implementation of the bulk silicon lifetime measurement technique described above is based on three critical steps, (i) chemically cleaning and etching the silicon wafers, (ii) immersion in a 15% HF solution and (iii) illumination for 1 min17,18,19. Without these steps, the bulk lifetime cannot be measured with any certainty.
As the measurement technique is conducted at RT, the surface passivation quality is highly susceptible to surface contamination (metals, organic...

High lifetime (&#62;1 msec) monocrystalline silicon is becoming ever more important for high efficiency solar cells. Understanding the recombination characteristics of embedded impurities has been, and remains an important topic. One of the most widely used techniques to examine the recombination activity of grown-in defects is by a photoconductance method1. By this technique it is often difficult to completely separate surface from bulk recombination, thus making it difficult to examine the recombination characteristics of grown-in defects. Fortunately there exist several dielectric films which can achieve very low effective surface recombination velocities (Seff) of &#60; 5 cm/sec, and thus effectively inhibit surface recombination. These are, silicon nitride (SiNx:H)2, aluminum oxide (Al2O3)3 and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H)4. The deposition and annealing temperatures (~400 &#176;C) of these dielectric films are considered to be low enough not to permanently deactivate the recombination activity of the grown-in defects. Examples of this are the iron-boron5 and boron oxygen6 defects. However, recently it was found that vacancy-oxygen and vacancy-phosphorus defects in n-type Czochralski (Cz) silicon can be completely deactivated at temperatures of 250-350 &#176;C7,8. Similarly a defect in float-zone (FZ) p-type silicon was found to deactivate at ~250 &#176;C9. Therefore, conventional passivation techniques such as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) may not be suitable for inhibiting surface recombination to examine grown-in bulk defects. Furthermore, SiNx:H and a-Si:H films have been shown to deactivate bulk silicon defects through hydrogenation10,11. Therefore to examine the recombination activity of grown-in defects, a RT surface passivation technique would be ideal. Wet chemical surface passivation fulfils this requirement.
In the 1990s Horanyi et al. demonstrated that immersion of silicon wafers in iodine-ethanol (I-E) solutions provides a means to passivate silicon wafers, achieving Seff &#60; 10 cm/sec12. In 2007 Meier et al. showed that iodine-methanol (I-M) solutions can reduce the surface recombination to 7 cm/sec13, while in 2009 Chhabra et al. demonstrated that Seff of 5 cm/sec can be attained by immersing silicon wafers in quinhydrone-methanol (Q-M) solutions14,15. Despite the excellent surface passivation achieved by I-E, I-M and Q-M solutions, they do not provide adequate surface passivation (Seff &#60;5 cm/sec) to measure the bulk lifetime of high purity silicon wafers.
Another means to achieve a high level of surface passivation is by immersing silicon wafers in HF acid. The notion of using HF to passivate silicon wafers was first introduced by Yablonavitch et al. in 1986, who demonstrated a record low Seff of 0.25&#177;0.5 cm/sec16. Although excellent surface passivation was attained on high resistivity wafers, we have found the technique to be non-repeatable, thus adding a large uncertainty to the lifetime measurement. Therefore to limit the uncertainty by consistently achieving a very low Seff (~1 cm/sec), we have developed a new HF passivation technique that incorporates three critical steps, (i) chemically cleaning and etching of silicon wafers, (ii) immersion in a 15% HF solution and (iii) illumination for 1 min17,18. This procedure is both simple and time efficient in comparison to the traditional PECVD and ALD deposition techniques listed above.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Hydrofluoric acid (48%)</td>
			<td>Merck Millipore,&#160; &#160;http://www.merckmillipore.com/AU/en/product/Hydrofluoric-acid-48%25,MDA_CHEM-100334</td>
			<td>1003340500</td>
			<td>Harmful and toxic. Any supplier could be used provided the chemical is Analytical Reagent (AR) grade.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hydrochloric acid 32%, AR</td>
			<td>ACI Labscan, http://www.rcilabscan.com/modules/productview.php?product_id=1985</td>
			<td>107209</td>
			<td>Harmful and toxic. Any supplier could be used provided the chemical is Analytical Reagent (AR) grade.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ammonia (30%) Solution AR</td>
			<td>Chem-supply, https://www.chemsupply.com.au/aa005-500m</td>
			<td>AA005</td>
			<td>Harmful and toxic. Any supplier could be used provided the chemical is Analytical Reagent (AR) grade.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hydrogen Peroxide (30%)</td>
			<td>Merck Millipore, http://www.merckmillipore.com/AU/en/product/Hydrogen-peroxide-30%25,MDA_CHEM-107209</td>
			<td>1072092500</td>
			<td>Harmful and toxic. Any supplier could be used provided the chemical is Analytical Reagent (AR) grade.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (25% in H2O)</td>
			<td>J.T Baker, https://us.vwr.com/store/catalog/product.jsp?product_id=4562992</td>
			<td>5879-03</td>
			<td>Harmful and toxic. Any supplier could be used provided the chemical is Analytical Reagent (AR) grade.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>640 mL round plastic container</td>
			<td>Sistema, http://sistemaplastics.com/products/klip-it-round/640ml-round</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>This is a good container for storing the 15% HF solution in.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>WCT-120 lifetime tester</td>
			<td>Sinton Instruments, http://www.sintoninstruments.com/Sinton-Instruments-WCT-120.html</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dell workstation with Microsoft Office Pro, Data acquisition card and software including Sinton Software under existing license.</td>
			<td>Sinton Instruments, http://www.sintoninstruments.com</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Halogen optical lamp, ELH 300W, 120V</td>
			<td>OSRAM Sylvania, http://www.sylvania.com/en-us/products/halogen/Pages/default.aspx</td>
			<td>54776</td>
			<td>Any equivalent lamp could be used.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Voltage power source</td>
			<td>Home made power supply</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>Any power supply could be used provided it can produce up to 90 Volts and 1-5 Amps.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Conductivity meter</td>
			<td>WTW, http://www.wtw.de/uploads/media/US_L_07_Cond_038_049_I_02.pdf</td>
			<td>LF330</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

light enhanced hydrofluoric acid passivation: a sensitive technique for detecting bulk silicon defects

A procedure to measure the bulk lifetime (&#62;100 &#181;sec) of silicon wafers by temporarily attaining a very high level of surface passivation when immersing the wafers in hydrofluoric acid (HF) is presented. By this procedure three critical steps are required to attain the bulk lifetime. Firstly, prior to immersing silicon wafers into HF, they are chemically cleaned and subsequently etched in 25% tetramethylammonium hydroxide. Secondly, the chemically treated wafers are then placed into a large plastic container filled with a mixture of HF and hydrochloric acid, and then centered over an inductive coil for photoconductance (PC) measurements. Thirdly, to inhibit surface recombination and measure the bulk lifetime, the wafers are illuminated at 0.2 suns for 1 min&#160;using a halogen lamp, the illumination is switched off, and a PC measurement is immediately taken. By this procedure, the characteristics of bulk silicon defects can be accurately determined. Furthermore, it is anticipated that a sensitive RT surface passivation technique will be imperative for examining bulk silicon defects when their concentration is low (&#60;1012 cm-3).

Figure 1a shows a schematic and Figure 1b shows a photograph of the experimental setup. When a silicon wafer is immersed into the HF solution, subsequently placed onto the lifetime tester stage and a measurement is performed (before illumination), a lifetime curve which is limited by surface recombination will result, as shown by the blue triangles in Figure 2. However, when the sample is illuminated for 1 min&#160;(while immersed in HF), as shown in Figure 1</st...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Light Enhanced Hydrofluoric Acid Passivation: A Sensitive Technique for Detecting Bulk Silicon Defects at JoVE.com

Light Enhanced Hydrofluoric Acid Passivation: A Sensitive Technique for Detecting Bulk Silicon Defects

A RT liquid surface passivation technique to investigate the recombination activity of bulk silicon defects is described. For the technique to be successful, three critical steps are required: (i) chemical cleaning and etching of silicon, (ii) immersion of silicon in 15% hydrofluoric acid and (iii) illumination for 1 min.

A procedure to measure the bulk lifetime (&#62;100 &#181;sec) of silicon wafers by temporarily attaining a very high level of surface passivation when ...

The overall goal of this procedure is to use a room temperature surface passivation method in order to inhibit surface recombination, such that bulk silicon defects can be accurately characterized. This method can help us understand what defects will limit the lifetime of high-purity silicon wafers, which are required for very high efficiency solar cells. The main advantage of this technique is that it can be performed at room temperature, meaning the recombination activity of bulk silicon defects will not change during the measurement.The implications of this technique extend towards measuring the recombination activity of bulk silicon defects that exist in low concentrations which otherwise would be very difficult to measure by other techniques. Generally, individuals new to this method will struggle because a requirement for high purity DI water and chemical cleaning procedures is not initially understood, thus it's imperative the procedure is followed step-by-step. Solution preparation, including vital notes on hydrofluoric acid preparation, as well as general setup and equipment calibration instructions are all provided in the text protocol.With those objectives achieved, proceed with cleaning the silicon wafers using chemical treatments. Begin with loading the samples into a quartz cradle. Then, transfer the cradle into a hydrofluoric acid bath meant for general use.After about 10 seconds, the samples will be hydrophobic. Remove them from the bath, and rinse them off by passing them through three deionized water baths. Next, in a fume hood, slowly immerse the cradle in the SC1 solution, which has been maintained at a temperature of 75 degrees Celsius.Let the treatment go for 10 minutes. And meanwhile, fill three chemically cleaned two-liter beakers with deionized water. After the SC1 treatment, rinse the samples off by passing them through the three water baths.Next, dip the samples into a dedicated hydrofluoric acid bath for about 10 seconds. Then rinse the samples off using three fresh deionized water baths. Now, move the samples to the fume hood where the SC2 solution was prepared, and heated to a stable 75 degrees Celsius.Immerse the samples in the SC2 solution for 10 minutes. After the SC2 treatment, rinse off the samples using the three deionized water baths. If needed, let the samples stay in the last water bath overnight.After the rinse, dip the samples in another dedicated hydrofluoric acid bath for 10 seconds. Again, rinse the samples by passing them through three fresh deionized water baths. Now, take the samples to the fume hood where the TMAH solution is stably heated to about 85 degrees Celsius, and slowly immerse the samples into the TMAH solution to etch the wafers.Let them react for five minutes to remove about five microns of silicon. Next, rinse off the tacky TMAH solution using at least three deionized water baths. The same rinse beakers can be re-employed here.Once rinsed, proceed with taking measurements within two hours. This process is conducted under a fume hood. In preparation, fill two two-liter plastic beakers with deionized water.Also prepare some plastic tweezers in the hood to handle the samples. On the computer, open the Lifetime Tester file, which contains the correct calibration coefficients for the hydrofluoric acid measurement setup. Select transient from the mode options, and enter a description of the wafer's variables.Now, carefully secure the lid on the hydrofluoric acid container, and move it onto the Lifetime Tester stage, centered over the blue circle, which represents the position of the inductive coil. Let the solution settle for about a minute before proceeding. Then, on the computer, click the Zero Instrument button to measure the voltage of the solution.After taking the measurement, carefully return the hydrofluoric acid container to the fume hood bench. There, remove the lid, and rinse off any condensation on the lid with DI water from the fume hood's water tap. Now, using tweezers, transfer one wafer into the hydrofluoric acid bath.Lightly press the wafer down to the bottom of the bath. Then, replace the lid and carefully carry the container back to the Lifetime Tester stage. Center the wafer over the inductive coil.Before taking a measurement, make sure the fume hood lights are switched off. Now, switch on the halogen lamp to illuminate the silicon wafer, and keep it on for about a minute. During the illumination period, in the software, click the Measure button.The software will then begin taking data. Fill in the prompt with a file name, and set the Sample Averaging option to 10. After about a minute of illumination, switch the lamp off, and immediately click the Average button on the Taking Data window.The software will perform 10 measurements. Then, click OK.Now, carefully return the container to the fume hood bench, cautiously remove the lid, and carefully remove the wafer. Rinse the tested wafer off in the dedicated rinse beakers, followed by a final rinse using the DI water tap in the fume hood.Then, store the tested wafer, and repeat the process for each silicon wafer to be measured. After the experiment, follow the clean up instructions provided in the text protocol. Following the described protocol, whereby silicon wafers were treated, etched, immersed in hydrofluoric acid, and measured using the photoconductance tool, a lifetime curve, which is limited by surface recombination results, as seen by the blue triangles.When the silicon wafer immersed in the hydrofluoric acid bath is illuminated by a halogen lamp for one minute, and then a photoconductance measurement is performed directly after illumination, a significant increase in the lifetime will occur, as seen by the red circles. This increase in lifetime is due to a reduction in surface recombination. The surface passivation began to degrade within seconds of turning off the halogen lamp.The blue circles show the consequence of waiting for one minute post-illumination. After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to measure the bulk lifetime of silicon wafers using a hydrofluoric acid bath, specifically how to treat the wafers before the measurement, how to activate the surface passivation by using a light source, and how to measure the lifetime immediately after illumination. Once mastered, this technique can be performed in two to three minutes per wafer.However, it will take an hour to prepare the wafers for the measurement, and thus it's time efficient to measure batches of wafers. While attempting this procedure, it's important to remember that the silicon wafers must be kept clean in order to consistently achieve very good surface passivation, and thus be able to detect and characterize bulk defects. Don't forget that working with hydrofluoric acid can be extremely hazardous, and precautions such as wearing personal protection equipment, and following procedure step-by-step should always be taken while performing this technique.

light-enhanced-hydrofluoric-acid-passivation-sensitive-technique-for

Research

JoVE Journal

Engineering

Polycrystalline Silicon Thin-film Solar cells with Plasmonic-enhanced Light-trapping

One of major approaches to cheaper solar cells is reducing the amount of semiconductor material used for their fabrication and making cells thinner. To compensate for lower light absorption such physically thin devices have to incorporate light-trapping which increases their optical thickness. Light scattering by textured surfaces is a common technique but it cannot be universally applied to all solar cell technologies. Some cells, for example those made of evaporated silicon, are planar as produced and they require an alternative light-trapping means suitable for planar devices. Metal nanoparticles formed on planar silicon cell surface and capable of light scattering due to surface plasmon resonance is an effective approach.
The paper presents a fabrication procedure of evaporated polycrystalline silicon solar cells with plasmonic light-trapping and demonstrates how the cell quantum efficiency improves due to presence of metal nanoparticles.
To fabricate the cells a film consisting of alternative boron and phosphorous doped silicon layers is deposited on glass substrate by electron beam evaporation. An Initially amorphous film is crystallised and electronic defects are mitigated by annealing and hydrogen passivation. Metal grid contacts are applied to the layers of opposite polarity to extract electricity generated by the cell. Typically, such a ~2 &mu;m thick cell has a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 14-16 mA/cm2, which can be increased up to 17-18 mA/cm2 (~25% higher) after application of a simple diffuse back reflector made of a white paint.
To implement plasmonic light-trapping a silver nanoparticle array is formed on the metallised cell silicon surface. A precursor silver film is deposited on the cell by thermal evaporation and annealed at 23&deg;C to form silver nanoparticles. Nanoparticle size and coverage, which affect plasmonic light-scattering, can be tuned for enhanced cell performance by varying the precursor film thickness and its annealing conditions. An optimised nanoparticle array alone results in cell Jsc enhancement of about 28%, similar to the effect of the diffuse reflector. The photocurrent can be further increased by coating the nanoparticles by a low refractive index dielectric, like MgF2, and applying the diffused reflector. The complete plasmonic cell structure comprises the polycrystalline silicon film, a silver nanoparticle array, a layer of MgF2, and a diffuse reflector. The Jsc for such cell is 21-23 mA/cm2, up to 45% higher than Jsc of the original cell without light-trapping or ~25% higher than Jsc for the cell with the diffuse reflector only.
Introduction
Light-trapping in silicon solar cells is commonly achieved via light scattering at textured interfaces. Scattered light travels through a cell at oblique angles for a longer distance and when such angles exceed the critical angle at the cell interfaces the light is permanently trapped in the cell by total internal reflection (Animation 1: Light-trapping). Although this scheme works well for most solar cells, there are developing technologies where ultra-thin Si layers are produced planar (e.g. layer-transfer technologies and epitaxial c-Si layers) 1 and or when such layers are not compatible with textures substrates (e.g. evaporated silicon) 2. For such originally planar Si layer alternative light trapping approaches, such as diffuse white paint reflector 3, silicon plasma texturing 4 or high refractive index nanoparticle reflector 5 have been suggested.
Metal nanoparticles can effectively scatter incident light into a higher refractive index material, like silicon, due to the surface plasmon resonance effect 6. They also can be easily formed on the planar silicon cell surface thus offering a light-trapping approach alternative to texturing. For a nanoparticle located at the air-silicon interface the scattered light fraction coupled into silicon exceeds 95% and a large faction of that light is scattered at angles above critical providing nearly ideal light-trapping condition (Animation 2: Plasmons on NP). The resonance can be tuned to the wavelength region, which is most important for a particular cell material and design, by varying the nanoparticle average size, surface coverage and local dielectric environment 6,7. Theoretical design principles of plasmonic nanoparticle solar cells have been suggested 8. In practice, Ag nanoparticle array is an ideal light-trapping partner for poly-Si thin-film solar cells because most of these design principle are naturally met. The simplest way of forming nanoparticles by thermal annealing of a thin precursor Ag film results in a random array with a relatively wide size and shape distribution, which is particularly suitable for light-trapping because such an array has a wide resonance peak, covering the wavelength range of 700-900 nm, important for poly-Si solar cell performance. The nanoparticle array can only be located on the rear poly-Si cell surface thus avoiding destructive interference between incident and scattered light which occurs for front-located nanoparticles 9. Moreover, poly-Si thin-film cells do not requires a passivating layer and the flat base-shaped nanoparticles (that naturally result from thermal annealing of a metal film) can be directly placed on silicon further increases plasmonic scattering efficiency due to surface plasmon-polariton resonance 10.
The cell with the plasmonic nanoparticle array as described above can have a photocurrent about 28% higher than the original cell. However, the array still transmits a significant amount of light which escapes through the rear of the cell and does not contribute into the current. This loss can be mitigated by adding a rear reflector to allow catching transmitted light and re-directing it back to the cell. Providing sufficient distance between the reflector and the nanoparticles (a few hundred nanometers) the reflected light will then experience one more plasmonic scattering event while passing through the nanoparticle array on re-entering the cell and the reflector itself can be made diffuse - both effects further facilitating light scattering and hence light-trapping. Importantly, the Ag nanoparticles have to be encapsulated with an inert and low refractive index dielectric, like MgF2 or SiO2, from the rear reflector to avoid mechanical and chemical damage 7. Low refractive index for this cladding layer is required to maintain a high coupling fraction into silicon and larger scattering angles, which are ensured by the high optical contrast between the media on both sides of the nanoparticle, silicon and dielectric 6. The photocurrent of the plasmonic cell with the diffuse rear reflector can be up to 45% higher than the current of the original cell or up to 25% higher than the current of an equivalent cell with the diffuse reflector only.

Polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells on glass are fabricated by deposition of boron and phosphorous doped silicon layers followed by crystallisation, defect passivation and metallisation. Plasmonic light-trapping is introduced by forming Ag nanoparticles on the silicon cell surface capped with a diffused reflector resulting in ~45% photocurrent enhancement.

One of major approaches to cheaper solar cells is reducing the amount of semiconductor material used for their fabrication and making cells thinner. To ...

Monolayer Contact Doping of Silicon Surfaces and Nanowires Using Organophosphorus Compounds

Monolayer Contact Doping (MLCD) is a simple method for doping of surfaces and nanostructures1. MLCD results in the formation of highly controlled, ultra shallow and sharp doping profiles at the nanometer scale. In MLCD process the dopant source is a monolayer containing dopant atoms.
In this article a detailed procedure for surface doping of silicon substrate as well as silicon nanowires is demonstrated. Phosphorus dopant source was formed using tetraethyl methylenediphosphonate monolayer on a silicon substrate. This monolayer containing substrate was brought to contact with a pristine intrinsic silicon target substrate and annealed while in contact. Sheet resistance of the target substrate was measured using 4 point probe. Intrinsic silicon nanowires were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process using a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism; gold nanoparticles were used as catalyst for nanowire growth. The nanowires were suspended in ethanol by mild sonication. This suspension was used to dropcast the nanowires on silicon substrate with a silicon nitride dielectric top layer. These nanowires were doped with phosphorus in similar manner as used for the intrinsic silicon wafer. Standard photolithography process was used to fabricate metal electrodes for the formation of nanowire based field effect transistor (NW-FET). The electrical properties of a representative nanowire device were measured by a semiconductor device analyzer and a probe station.

A detailed procedure for surface doping of Silicon interfaces is provided. The ultra-shallow surface doping is demonstrated by using phosphorus containing monolayers and rapid annealing process. The method can be used for doping of macroscopic area surfaces as well as nanostructures.

Monolayer Contact Doping (MLCD) is a simple method for doping of surfaces and nanostructures1. MLCD results in the formation of highly controlled, ultra ...

Flame Experiments at the Advanced Light Source: New Insights into Soot Formation Processes

The following experimental protocols and the accompanying video are concerned with the flame experiments that are performed at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory1-4. This video demonstrates how the complex chemical structures of laboratory-based model flames are analyzed using flame-sampling mass spectrometry with tunable synchrotron-generated vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) radiation. This experimental approach combines isomer-resolving capabilities with high sensitivity and a large dynamic range5,6. The first part of the video describes experiments involving burner-stabilized, reduced-pressure (20-80 mbar) laminar premixed flames. A small hydrocarbon fuel was used for the selected flame to demonstrate the general experimental approach. It is shown how species&#8217; profiles are acquired as a function of distance from the burner surface and how the tunability of the VUV photon energy is used advantageously to identify many combustion intermediates based on their ionization energies. For example, this technique has been used to study gas-phase aspects of the soot-formation processes, and the video shows how the resonance-stabilized radicals, such as C3H3, C3H5, and i-C4H5, are identified as important intermediates7. The work has been focused on soot formation processes, and, from the chemical point of view, this process is very intriguing because chemical structures containing millions of carbon atoms are assembled from a fuel molecule possessing only a few carbon atoms in just milliseconds. The second part of the video highlights a new experiment, in which an opposed-flow diffusion flame and synchrotron-based aerosol mass spectrometry are used to study the chemical composition of the combustion-generated soot particles4. The experimental results indicate that the widely accepted H-abstraction-C2H2-addition (HACA) mechanism is not the sole molecular growth process responsible for the formation of the observed large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Gas sampling from laboratory-scale flames with online analysis of all species by mass spectrometry is a powerful method to investigate the complex mixture of chemical compounds occurring during combustion processes. Coupled with tunable soft ionization via synchrotron-generated vacuum-ultraviolet radiation, this technique provides isomer-resolved information and potentially fragment-free mass spectra.

The following experimental protocols and the accompanying video are concerned with the flame experiments that are performed at the Chemical Dynamics ...

Scalable Nanohelices for Predictive Studies and Enhanced 3D Visualization

Spring-like materials are ubiquitous in nature and of interest in nanotechnology for energy harvesting, hydrogen storage, and biological sensing applications.&#160; For predictive simulations, it has become increasingly important to be able to model the structure of nanohelices accurately.&#160; To study the effect of local structure on the properties of these complex geometries one must develop realistic models.&#160; To date, software packages are rather limited in creating atomistic helical models.&#160; This work focuses on producing atomistic models of silica glass (SiO2) nanoribbons and nanosprings for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Using an MD model of &#8220;bulk&#8221; silica glass, two computational procedures to precisely create the shape of nanoribbons and nanosprings are presented.&#160; The first method employs the AWK programming language and open-source software to effectively carve various shapes of silica nanoribbons from the initial bulk model, using desired dimensions and parametric equations to define a helix.&#160; With this method, accurate atomistic silica nanoribbons can be generated for a range of pitch values and dimensions.&#160; The second method involves a more robust code which allows flexibility in modeling nanohelical structures.&#160; This approach utilizes a C++ code particularly written to implement pre-screening methods as well as the mathematical equations for a helix, resulting in greater precision and efficiency when creating nanospring models.&#160; Using these codes, well-defined and scalable nanoribbons and nanosprings suited for atomistic simulations can be effectively created.&#160; An added value in both open-source codes is that they can be adapted to reproduce different helical structures, independent of material.&#160; In addition, a MATLAB graphical user interface (GUI) is used to enhance learning through visualization and interaction for a general user with the atomistic helical structures.&#160; One application of these methods is the recent study of nanohelices via MD simulations for mechanical energy harvesting purposes.

Accurate modeling of nanohelical structures is important for predictive simulation studies leading to novel nanotechnology applications.&#160; Currently, software packages and codes are limited in creating atomistic helical models.&#160; We present two procedures designed to create atomistic nanohelical models for simulations, and a graphical interface to enhance research through visualization.

Spring-like materials are ubiquitous in nature and of interest in nanotechnology for energy harvesting, hydrogen storage, and biological sensing ...

Selective Area Modification of Silicon Surface Wettability by Pulsed UV Laser Irradiation in Liquid Environment

The wettability of silicon (Si) is one of the important parameters in the technology of surface functionalization of this material and fabrication of biosensing devices. We report on a protocol of using KrF and ArF lasers irradiating Si (001) samples immersed in a liquid environment with low number of pulses and operating at moderately low pulse fluences to induce Si wettability modification. Wafers immersed for up to 4 hr in a 0.01% H2O2/H2O solution did not show measurable change in their initial contact angle (CA) ~75&#176;. However, the 500-pulse KrF and ArF lasers irradiation of such wafers in a microchamber filled with 0.01% H2O2/H2O solution at 250 and 65 mJ/cm2, respectively, has decreased the CA to near 15&#176;, indicating the formation of a superhydrophilic surface. The formation of OH-terminated Si (001), with no measurable change of the wafer&#8217;s surface morphology, has been confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements. The selective area irradiated samples were then immersed in a biotin-conjugated fluorescein-stained nanospheres solution for 2 hr, resulting in a successful immobilization of the nanospheres in the non-irradiated area. This illustrates the potential of&#160;the method for selective area biofunctionalization and fabrication of advanced Si-based biosensing architectures. We also describe a similar protocol of irradiation of wafers immersed in methanol (CH3OH) using ArF laser operating at pulse fluence of 65 mJ/cm2 and in situ formation of a strongly hydrophobic surface of Si (001) with the CA of 103&#176;. The XPS results indicate ArF laser induced formation of Si&#8211;(OCH3)x compounds responsible for the observed hydrophobicity. However, no such compounds were found by XPS on the Si surface irradiated by KrF laser in methanol, demonstrating the inability of the KrF laser to photodissociate methanol and create -OCH3 radicals.

We report on a process of in situ alteration of HF treated Si (001) surface into a hydrophilic or hydrophobic state by irradiating samples in microfluidic chambers filled with&#160;H2O2/H2O solution (0.01%-0.5%) or methanol solutions using pulsed UV laser of a relative low pulse fluence.

The wettability of silicon (Si) is one of the important parameters in the technology of surface functionalization of this material and fabrication of ...

Silicon Metal-oxide-semiconductor Quantum Dots for Single-electron Pumping

As mass-produced silicon transistors have reached the nano-scale, their behavior and performances are increasingly affected, and often deteriorated, by quantum mechanical effects such as tunneling through single dopants, scattering via interface defects, and discrete trap charge states. However, progress in silicon technology has shown that these phenomena can be harnessed and exploited for a new class of quantum-based electronics. Among others, multi-layer-gated silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) technology can be used to control single charge or spin confined in electrostatically-defined quantum dots (QD). These QD-based devices are an excellent platform for quantum computing applications and, recently, it has been demonstrated that they can also be used as single-electron pumps, which are accurate sources of quantized current for metrological purposes. Here, we discuss in detail the fabrication protocol for silicon MOS QDs which is relevant to both quantum computing and quantum metrology applications. Moreover, we describe characterization methods to test the integrity of the devices after fabrication. Finally, we give a brief description of the measurement set-up used for charge pumping experiments and show representative results of electric current quantization.

The fabrication process and experimental characterization techniques relevant to single-electron pumps based on silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor quantum dots are discussed.

As mass-produced silicon transistors have reached the nano-scale, their behavior and performances are increasingly affected, and often deteriorated, by ...

Integration of Light Trapping Silver Nanostructures in Hydrogenated Microcrystalline Silicon Solar Cells by Transfer Printing

One of the potential applications of metal nanostructures is light trapping in solar cells, where unique optical properties of nanosized metals, commonly known as plasmonic effects, play an important role. Research in this field has, however, been impeded owing to the difficulty of fabricating devices containing the desired functional metal nanostructures. In order to provide a viable strategy to this issue, we herein show a transfer printing-based approach that allows the quick and low-cost integration of designed metal nanostructures with a variety of device architectures, including solar cells. Nanopillar poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) stamps were fabricated from a commercially available nanohole plastic film as a master mold. On this nanopatterned PDMS stamps, Ag films were deposited, which were then transfer-printed onto block copolymer (binding layer)-coated hydrogenated microcrystalline Si (&#181;c-Si:H) surface to afford ordered Ag nanodisk structures. It was confirmed that the resulting Ag nanodisk-incorporated &#181;c-Si:H solar cells show higher performances compared to a cell without the transfer-printed Ag nanodisks, thanks to plasmonic light trapping effect derived from the Ag nanodisks. Because of the simplicity and versatility, further device application would also be feasible thorough this approach.

A viable transfer printing-based methodology to introduce plasmonic metal nanostructures in solar cells is described. Using nanopillar poly(dimethylsiloxane) stamps, an Ag-based ordered nanodisk array was integrated with standard hydrogenated microcrystalline Si solar cells, which led to improved device performances due to plasmonic light trapping.

One of the potential applications of metal nanostructures is light trapping in solar cells, where unique optical properties of nanosized metals, commonly ...

Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization

Polymer-based materials hold promise as low-cost, flexible efficient photovoltaic devices. Most laboratory efforts to achieve high performance devices have used devices prepared by spin coating, a process that is not amenable to large-scale fabrication. This mismatch in device fabrication makes it difficult to translate quantitative results obtained in the laboratory to the commercial level, making optimization difficult. Using a mini-slot die coater, this mismatch can be resolved by translating the commercial process to the laboratory and characterizing the structure formation in the active layer of the device in real time and in situ as films are coated onto a substrate. The evolution of the morphology was characterized under different conditions, allowing us to propose a mechanism by which the structures form and grow. This mini-slot die coater offers a simple, convenient, material efficient route by which the morphology in the active layer can be optimized under industrially relevant conditions. The goal of this protocol is to show experimental details of how a solar cell device is fabricated using a mini-slot die coater and technical details of running in situ structure characterization using the mini-slot die coater.

Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization

Here, we present a protocol to fabricate organic thin film solar cells using a mini-slot die coater and related in-line structure characterizations using synchrotron scattering techniques.

Polymer-based materials hold promise as low-cost, flexible efficient photovoltaic devices. Most laboratory efforts to achieve high performance devices ...

Fabrication and Operation of Acoustofluidic Devices Supporting Bulk Acoustic Standing Waves for Sheathless Focusing of Particles

Acoustophoresis refers to the displacement of suspended objects in response to directional forces from sound energy. Given that the suspended objects must be smaller than the incident wavelength of sound and the width of the fluidic channels are typically tens to hundreds of micrometers across, acoustofluidic devices typically use ultrasonic waves generated from a piezoelectric transducer pulsating at high frequencies (in the megahertz range). At characteristic frequencies that depend on the geometry of the device, it is possible to induce the formation of standing waves that can focus particles along desired fluidic streamlines within a bulk flow. Here, we describe a method for the fabrication of acoustophoretic devices from common materials and clean room equipment. We show representative results for the focusing of particles with positive or negative acoustic contrast factors, which move towards the pressure nodes or antinodes of the standing waves, respectively. These devices offer enormous practical utility for precisely positioning large numbers of microscopic entities (e.g., cells) in stationary or flowing fluids for applications ranging from cytometry to assembly.

Acoustofluidic devices use ultrasonic waves within microfluidic channels to manipulate, concentrate and isolate suspended micro and nanoscopic entities. This protocol describes the fabrication and operation of such a device supporting bulk acoustic standing waves to focus particles in a central streamline without the aid of sheath fluids.

Acoustophoresis refers to the displacement of suspended objects in response to directional forces from sound energy. Given that the suspended objects must ...

Measurement of Quantum Interference in a Silicon Ring Resonator Photon Source

Silicon photonic chips have the potential to realize complex integrated quantum information processing circuits, including photon sources, qubit manipulation, and integrated single-photon detectors. Here, we present the key aspects of preparing and testing a silicon photonic quantum chip with an integrated photon source and two-photon interferometer. The most important aspect of an integrated quantum circuit is minimizing loss so that all of the generated photons are detected with the highest possible fidelity. Here, we describe how to perform low-loss edge coupling by using an ultra-high numerical aperture fiber to closely match the mode of the silicon waveguides. By using an optimized fusion splicing recipe, the UHNA fiber is seamlessly interfaced with a standard single-mode fiber. This low-loss coupling allows the measurement of high-fidelity photon production in an integrated silicon ring resonator and the subsequent two-photon interference of the produced photons in a closely integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer. This paper describes the essential procedures for the preparation and characterization of high-performance and scalable silicon quantum photonic circuits.

Silicon photonic chips have the potential to realize complex integrated quantum systems. Presented here is a method for preparing and testing a silicon photonic chip for quantum measurements.