Surface texturing is vital for enhancing light absorption and optimizing the optoelectronic properties of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) samples. Texturing significantly improves light absorption by minimizing reflectance and extending the effective path length of incident light. Furthermore, porous silicon treatment on textured mc-Si surfaces offers additional advantages, including enhanced carrier generation, reduced surface recombination, and improved light emission. In this study, a dual treatment combining porous silicon and texturing was employed as an effective approach to enhance the optical and optoelectronic properties of mc-Si. Both porous silicon and texturing were achieved through a chemical etching process. After these surface modifications, the morphology and structure of mc-Si were examined using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV-Vis-IR spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL), WCT-120 photo-conductance lifetime measurements, and Two-Internal Quantum Efficiency (IQE) analysis. The results reveal a substantial improvement in the material’s properties. The total reflectivity dropped from 35% to approximately 5%, while the effective minority carrier lifetime increased from 2 µs for bare mc-Si to 36 µs after treatment. Additionally, the two-dimensional IQE value rose from 35% for the untreated sample to 66% after treatment, representing an enhancement of around 31%. These findings highlight the potential of surface engineering techniques in optimizing mc-Si for photovoltaic applications.

Surface texturing is vital in enhancing light absorption and optimizing the optoelectronic properties of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) samples. Texturing significantly improves light absorption by minimizing reflectance and extending the effective path length of incident light. Furthermore, porous silicon treatment on textured mc-Si surfaces offers additional advantages, including enhanced carrier generation, reduced surface recombination, and improved light emission. In this study, a dual treatment combining porous silicon and texturing was employed as an effective approach to enhance the optical and optoelectronic properties of mc-Si. Both porous silicon and texturing were achieved through a chemical etching process. After these surface modifications, the morphology and structure of mc-Si were examined using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV-Vis-IR spectroscopy, Photoluminescence (PL), WCT-120 photoconductance lifetime measurements, and Internal Quantum Efficiency (IQE) analysis. Results reveal a substantial improvement in the material’s properties. The total reflectivity dropped from 35% to approximately 5%, while the effective minority carrier lifetime increased from 2 µs to 36 µs. Additionally, the two-dimensional IQE value rose from 31% for the untreated sample to 63% after treatment, representing an enhancement of around 26%. These findings highlight the potential of surface engineering techniques in optimizing mc-Si for photovoltaic applications.

In this paper, we report on the effect of combining porous silicon with aluminum microparticles (PS/Al-µPs) on the optical and electronic properties of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si). An aluminum film was deposited on the mc-Si surface, annealed at 750 °C for 20 min, and partially remained on the surface after CP₄ treatment. The surface was subsequently treated with a stain-etching solution (HF/HNO₃/H₂O) to form a porous silicon (PS) layer. The resulting mc-Si with PS/Al-µPs modification led to a marked improvement in the optoelectronic performance of the treated mc-Si. Surface reflectance was reduced from 34.6% to 9.1% across 400–800 nm wavelength range, corresponding to a 74% decrease. Minority carrier lifetime increased from 2 µs in untreated samples to 1 ms after Al-µPs passivation and remained elevated at 285 µs following stain etching. Additionally, the effective surface recombination velocity dropped from 50 cm·s⁻¹ to 0.35 cm·s⁻¹ and a reduction in [Fe] after treatment confirms the effectiveness of the PS-Al-µPs gettering process. FTIR analysis confirmed the formation of Si–H and Al–O bonds, highlighting effective surface passivation and suppression of recombination losses.