Charge transport studies on Si nanopillars for photodetectors fabricated using vapor phase metal-assisted chemical etching

Si nanopillars (SiNPLs) were fabricated using a novel vapor phase metal-assisted chemical etching (V-Mace) and nanosphere lithography. The temperature dependent current–voltage (I–V) characteristics have been studied over a broad temperature range 170–360 K. The SiNPLs show a Schottky diode-like behavior at a temperature below 300 K and the rectification (about two orders of magnitude) is more prominent at temperature < 210 K. The electrical properties are discussed in detail using Cheung’s and Norde methods, and the Schottky diode parameters, such as barrier height, ideality factor, series resistance, are carefully figured out and compared with different methods. Moreover, the light sensitivity of the SiNPLs has been studied using I–V characteristics in dark and under the illumination of white light and UV light. The SiNPLs show fast response to the white light and UV light (response time of 0.18 and 0.26 s) under reverse bias condition and the mechanism explained using band diagram. The ratio of photo-to-dark current shows a peak value of 9.8 and 6.9 for white light and UV light, respectively. The Si nanopillars exhibit reflectance < 4% over the wavelength region 250–800 nm with a minimum reflectance of 2.13% for the optimized sample. The superior light absorption of the SiNPLs induced fast response in the I–V characteristics under UV light and white light. The work function of the SiNPLs in dark and under illumination has been also studied using Kelvin probe to confirm the light sensitivity.