Hydrophobic Surfaces Prepared by Aluminum-Induced Crystallization of Amorphous Silicon

This paper reports fabrication and understanding of hydrophobic silicon nano-textured surfaces produced by aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) of amorphous silicon (a-Si). In this study, the effects of annealing temperature and duration on surface topography and wetting property were investigated. The results showed that surface wetting property directly correlates with the percentage area coverage by the nano-textures, which in turn was determined by the annealing conditions. The largest water contact angle (WCA) obtained from this research is 137°.