Abstract: A reasonable selective maskless etching process is developed to fabricate patterned Si nanowire arrays on the basis of metal-assisted silicon chemical etching. The patterned Si nanowire arrays are successfully fabricated in a selective maskless etching process. The surface morphology and photoluminescence of the patterned Si nanowire arrays are characterized by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a Raman spectrometer. It is indicated that patterned Si nanowire arrays are high quality porous micro- and nanostructured arrays. The photoluminescence of patterned Si nanowire arrays reveals that a strong light emission peak at 663 nm is obtained. Results show that a simple and efficient process to fabricate patterned Si nanowire arrays for Si-based optoelectronic integrated devices can be obtained.

Key words: maskless process, photoluminescence, Si nanowire array