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Showing papers on "Amorphous silicon published in 2009"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The fabrication of a-Si:H nanowires and nanocones function as both absorber and antireflection layers, which offer a promising approach to enhance the solar cell energy conversion efficiency.
Abstract: Hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si:H) is an important solar cell material. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of a-Si:H nanowires (NWs) and nanocones (NCs), using an easily scalable and IC-compatible process. We also investigate the optical properties of these nanostructures. These a-Si:H nanostructures display greatly enhanced absorption over a large range of wavelengths and angles of incidence, due to suppressed reflection. The enhancement effect is particularly strong for a-Si:H NC arrays, which provide nearly perfect impedance matching between a-Si:H and air through a gradual reduction of the effective refractive index. More than 90% of light is absorbed at angles of incidence up to 60° for a-Si:H NC arrays, which is significantly better than NW arrays (70%) and thin films (45%). In addition, the absorption of NC arrays is 88% at the band gap edge of a-Si:H, which is much higher than NW arrays (70%) and thin films (53%). Our experimental data agree very well with simulation. The a-Si:H nanocones functio...

1,238 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The rapid progress that is being made with inorganic thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies, both in the laboratory and in industry, is reviewed in this paper.

531 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that the molecular packing motif (that is, herringbone versus slip-stacked) plays a decisive part in grain-boundary-induced transport anisotropy in PDI8-CN2, providing important guidelines for designing device-optimized molecular semiconductors.
Abstract: Solution-processable organic semiconductors are central to developing viable printed electronics, and performance comparable to that of amorphous silicon has been reported for films grown from soluble semiconductors. However, the seemingly desirable formation of large crystalline domains introduces grain boundaries, resulting in substantial device-to-device performance variations. Indeed, for films where the grain-boundary structure is random, a few unfavourable grain boundaries may dominate device performance. Here we isolate the effects of molecular-level structure at grain boundaries by engineering the microstructure of the high-performance n-type perylenediimide semiconductor PDI8-CN2 and analyse their consequences for charge transport. A combination of advanced X-ray scattering, first-principles computation and transistor characterization applied to PDI8-CN2 films reveals that grain-boundary orientation modulates carrier mobility by approximately two orders of magnitude. For PDI8-CN2 we show that the molecular packing motif (that is, herringbone versus slip-stacked) plays a decisive part in grain-boundary-induced transport anisotropy. The results of this study provide important guidelines for designing device-optimized molecular semiconductors.

420 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate the advances and limitations of this class of polymer in transistor devices, and evaluate the performance of polymers based on thienothiophene copolymers in solution-processed transistor devices.
Abstract: Organic semiconductors are emerging as a viable alternative to amorphous silicon in a range of thin-film transistor devices. With the possibility to formulate these p-type materials as inks and subsequently print into patterned devices, organic-based transistors offer significant commercial advantages for manufacture, with initial applications such as low performance displays and simple logic being envisaged. Previous limitations of both air stability and electrical performance are now being overcome with a range of both small molecule and polymer-based solution-processable materials, which achieve charge carrier mobilities in excess of 0.5 cm 2 V -1 s -1 , a benchmark value for amorphous silicon semiconductors. Polymer semiconductors based on thienothiophene copolymers have achieved amongst the highest charge carrier mobilities in solution-processed transistor devices. In this Progress Report, we evaluate the advances and limitations of this class of polymer in transistor devices.

393 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review presents ways to systematically improve charge carrier mobility by proper variation of the electronic and steric structure of the constituting molecules and to reach charge carrier mobilities that are close to and comparable to amorphous silicon.
Abstract: Organic semiconducting materials offer the advantage of solution processability into flexible films. In most cases, their drawback is based on their low charge carrier mobility, which is directly related to the packing of the molecules both on local (amorphous versus crystalline) and on macroscopic (grain boundaries) length scales. Liquid crystalline ordering offers the possibility of circumventing this problem. An advanced concept comprises: i) the application of materials with different liquid crystalline phases, ii) the orientation of a low viscosity high temperature phase, and, iii) the transfer of the macroscopic orientation during cooling to a highly ordered (at best, crystalline-like) phase at room temperature. At the same time, the desired orientation for the application (OLED or field-effect transistor) can be obtained. This review presents the use of molecules with discotic, calamitic and sanidic phases and discusses the sensitivity of the phases with regard to defects depending on the dimensionality of the ordered structure (columns: 1D, smectic layers and sanidic phases: 2D). It presents ways to systematically improve charge carrier mobility by proper variation of the electronic and steric (packing) structure of the constituting molecules and to reach charge carrier mobilities that are close to and comparable to amorphous silicon, with values of 0.1 to 0. 7 cm 2 . V -1 . s -1 . In this context, the significance of crosslinking to stabilize the orientation and liquid crystalline behavior of inorganic/organic hybrids is also discussed.

355 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the structural transformation of silicon nanowires when cycled against lithium was evaluated using electrochemical potential spectroscopy and galvanostatic cycling, and it was shown that limiting the voltage in the charge to 70 mV results in improved efficiency and cyclability compared to charging to 10 mV.

288 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, silicon-carbon composite inverse-opal materials are synthesized by depositing a thin layer of carbon via pyrolysis of a sucrose-based precursor onto the silicon inverse opals.
Abstract: Several types of silicon-based inverse-opal films are synthesized, characterized by a range of experimental techniques, and studied in terms of electrochemical performance. Amorphous silicon inverse opals are fabricated via chemical vapor deposition. Galvanostatic cycling demonstrates that these materials possess high capacities and reasonable capacity retentions. Amorphous silicon inverse opals perform unsatisfactorily at high rates due to the low conductivity of silicon. The conductivity of silicon inverse opals can be improved by their crystallization. Nanocrystalline silicon inverse opals demonstrate much better rate capabilities but the capacities fade to zero after several cycles. Silicon–carbon composite inverse-opal materials are synthesized by depositing a thin layer of carbon via pyrolysis of a sucrose-based precursor onto the silicon inverse opals. The amount of carbon deposited proves to be insufficient to stabilize the structures and silicon–carbon composites demonstrate unsatisfactory electrochemical behavior. Carbon inverse opals are coated with amorphous silicon producing another type of macroporous composite. These electrodes demonstrate significant improvement both in capacity retentions and in rate capabilities. The inner carbon matrix not only increases the material conductivity but also results in lower silicon pulverization during cycling.

272 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a protrusion electrode structure is proposed to dramatically lower the operation voltage of the emerging blue-phase liquid crystal displays (BP-LCDs), which enables the BP-LCD to be addressed by amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (TFTs).
Abstract: A protrusion electrode structure is proposed to dramatically lower the operation voltage of the emerging blue-phase liquid crystal displays (BP-LCDs). Simulation results indicate that the generated horizontal electric field is not only strong but also penetrates deeply into the bulk LC layer. As a result, a low voltage (∼10 Vrms) and reasonably high transmittance (∼70%) BP-LCD can be achieved. This approach enables the BP-LCDs to be addressed by amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (TFTs). Widespread application of TFT BP-LCDs is foreseeable.

267 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A novel donor-acceptor type liquid-crystalline semiconducting copolymer, poly(didodecylquaterthiophene-alt-didodECylbithiazole), which contains both electron-donating quaterthyphene and electron-accepting 5,5'-bith Diazole units, which exhibits excellent electrical characteristics such as field-effect mobilities and bias-stress stability comparable to that of amorphous silicon (a-Si).
Abstract: The ability to control the molecular organization of electronically active liquid-crystalline polymer semiconductors on surfaces provides opportunities to develop easy-to-process yet highly ordered supramolecular systems and, in particular, to optimize their electrical and environmental reliability in applications in the field of large-area printed electronics and photovoltaics. Understanding the relationship between liquid-crystalline nanostructure and electrical stability on appropriate molecular surfaces is the key to enhancing the performance of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) to a degree comparable to that of amorphous silicon (a-Si). Here, we report a novel donor−acceptor type liquid-crystalline semiconducting copolymer, poly(didodecylquaterthiophene-alt-didodecylbithiazole), which contains both electron-donating quaterthiophene and electron-accepting 5,5′-bithiazole units. This copolymer exhibits excellent electrical characteristics such as field-effect mobilities as high as 0.33 cm2/V·s a...

218 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A quantitative study of the dynamics of threshold-voltage shifts with time in gallium-indium zinc oxide amorphous thin-film transistors using standard analysis based on the stretched exponential relaxation is presented in this paper.
Abstract: A quantitative study of the dynamics of threshold-voltage shifts with time in gallium-indium zinc oxide amorphous thin-film transistors is presented using standard analysis based on the stretched exponential relaxation. For devices using thermal silicon oxide as gate dielectric, the relaxation time is 3×105 s at room temperature with activation energy of 0.68 eV. These transistors approach the stability of the amorphous silicon transistors. The threshold voltage shift is faster after water vapor exposure suggesting that the origin of this instability is charge trapping at residual-water-related trap sites.

211 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A design that increases significantly the absorption of a thin layer of absorbing material such as amorphous silicon by patterning a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) in this layer by coupling the incident light into slow Bloch modes of the 1DPC.
Abstract: We propose a design that increases significantly the absorption of a thin layer of absorbing material such as amorphous silicon. This is achieved by patterning a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) in this layer. Indeed, by coupling the incident light into slow Bloch modes of the 1DPC, we can control the photon lifetime and then, enhance the absorption integrated over the whole solar spectrum. Optimal parameters of the 1DPC maximize the integrated absorption in the wavelength range of interest, up to 45% in both S and P polarization states instead of 33% for the unpatterned, 100 nm thick amorphous silicon layer. Moreover, the absorption is tolerant with respect to fabrication errors, and remains relatively stable if the angle of incidence is changed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that this phenomenon is caused by Fermi energy dependent Si-H bond rupture in the a-Si:H films, for either type of doping.
Abstract: Doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films of only a few nanometer thin find application in a-Si:H/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells. Although such films may yield a field effect at the interface, their electronic passivation properties are often found to be inferior, compared to those of their intrinsic counterparts. In this article, based on H2 effusion experiments, the authors argue that this phenomenon is caused by Fermi energy dependent Si–H bond rupture in the a-Si:H films, for either type of doping. This results in the creation of Si dangling bonds, counteracting intentional doping of the a-Si:H matrix, and lowering the passivation quality.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the first few layers of pentacene TFTs are analyzed and the packing and exact arrangement of molecules in these layers determine the current obtained at an applied voltage.
Abstract: Organic semiconductors are attracting considerable research interest due to already commercialized and potential applications in low-cost electronics such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, thin film transistors and related applications (e.g. TFT sensors), RF identification tags (RFID), smart cards electronic paper etc.). In the field of organic semiconductor research, the material pentacene has developed into a benchmark material because high-performance thin film transistor (TFT) devices are easily and robustly obtained from vacuum-deposited thin films of pentacene on a variety of substrates. Pentacene thin films on silicon oxide are a particularly interesting case because, despite their polycrystalline film morphology (i.e. structural imperfections and small grains), the pentacene TFTs outperform single crystalbased pentacene transistors. The key to understanding the electrical performance of pentacene TFTs lies with the first few layers of pentacene. When a TFT device is switched “on”, the current flows predominantly in the first few molecular layers and the packing and exact arrangement of molecules in these layers determine the current obtained at an applied voltage. The knowledge of the precise packing in the first monolayer is, therefore, crucial to understanding the charge transport properties of pentacene TFTs.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells using numerical simulations and found that the differences between the device physics of cells with p- and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers are substantial.
Abstract: This work analyzes heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells using numerical simulations. The differences between the device physics of cells with p- and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers are substantial. HIT solar cells with n-type wafers essentially form a n/p/n structure, where tunneling across the junction heterointerfaces is a critical transport mechanism required to attain performance exceeding 20%. For HIT cells with p-type wafers, only tunneling at the back-contact barrier may be important. For p-wafer cells, the hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) between the indium tin oxide (ITO) and crystalline silicon may act as a passivating buffer layer but, otherwise, does not significantly contribute to device performance. For n-wafer cells, the carrier concentration and band alignment of this a-Si:H layer are critical to device performance.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The transfer characteristics of amorphous InGaZnO4 thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) were measured at temperatures ranging from 298 to 523 K in order to analyze the behavior of the above-threshold (ON state) and subthreshold regions as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The transfer characteristics of amorphous InGaZnO4 thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) were measured at temperatures ranging from 298 to 523 K in order to analyze the behavior of the above-threshold (ON state) and subthreshold regions. For comparison, the transfer characteristics of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon TFT (a-Si:H TFT) were measured in the same temperature range. We developed a simple analytical model that relates the threshold voltage (Vt) decrease due to increasing temperature to the formation of point defects in a-IGZO. It is well known that the formation of point defects results in the generation of free carriers in oxide semiconductors. Incorporating the analytical model with the experimental transfer characteristics data taken at high temperatures over 423 K, we estimated the formation energy to be approximately 1.05 eV. The Vt decrease because of the generation of point defects is peculiar to a-IGZO TFTs, which is not observed in a-Si:H TFTs. The results for the ON-current activation energy suggested that the density of tail states for a-IGZO is much lower than that for a-Si:H.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the fabrication of low-loss amorphous silicon photonic wires deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition was reported, which achieved propagation loss of 3.46 and 1.34 dB/cm for ridge waveguides.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a high-mobility hydrogen-doped In 2 O 3 (IO:H) film was used as a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrode for a-Si:H/c-Si HJ solar cells.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the performance of amorphous/crystalline silicon (a-Si:H/c-Si) heterojunction solar cell technology and current understanding of fundamental device physics are presented.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the ultraviolet photo-field effects in amorphous InGaZnO4 thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) compared with those in hydrogenated Amorphous Si:H TFT were discussed.
Abstract: We discuss the ultraviolet (UV) photo-field effects in amorphous InGaZnO4 thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) compared with those in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) TFTs. It is shown that the UV illumination induces a much more significant threshold voltage (Vt) decrease and OFF-current increase for the a-IGZO TFTs than for the a-Si:H TFTs. The significant Vt decrease is found to take several tens of min to return to the initial state after switching off the UV light. A qualitative model is introduced to explain the photoresponse unique to the a-IGZO TFTs.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of texture in Ag/ZnO back reflectors (BRs) on the performance of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) solar cells was studied.
Abstract: We have studied the effect of texture in Ag/ZnO back reflectors (BRs) on the performance of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) solar cells. While a larger texture provides superior light trapping, it also deteriorates the nc-Si:H quality. We have used total and diffused reflection and atomic force microscopy to evaluate the BR texture. A BR with textured Ag and thin ZnO layers has been found to give the best cell performance. Using the optimized BR, we have achieved an initial active-area efficiency of 10.2% in a nc-Si:H single-junction cell and a stable total-area efficiency of 12.5% in a hydrogenated amorphous silicon/nc-Si:H/nc-Si:H triple-junction cell.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the optical properties of amorphous and crystalline silicon nanoparticles synthesized by a nonthermal plasma reactor were studied, and a clear trend of the photoluminescence quantum yield increasing with the increasing degree of crystallinity of samples with largely amorphized samples, exhibiting almost no luminescence.
Abstract: While nanocrystalline silicon is known to be an efficient optical emitter, there have been few and sometimes contradictory reports of emission from amorphous silicon nanoparticles. This paper presents a study of the optical properties of amorphous and crystalline silicon nanoparticles synthesized by a nonthermal plasma reactor. By tuning the power delivered to the reactor, the particle structure was adjusted from amorphous to crystalline without otherwise changing the particle properties, such as nanoparticle size, in a significant manner. Two different kinds of surface passivation of nanoparticles are studied: the surface functionalization with organic ligands in a scheme known as hydrosilylation and the passivation with a native surface oxide. We observe a clear trend of the photoluminescence quantum yield increasing with the increasing degree of crystallinity of samples with largely amorphous samples, exhibiting almost no luminescence. Measurements suggest that the upper bound for the quantum yield of amorphous nanoparticles is 2%, while the quantum yield of silicon nanocrystals is routinely found to exceed 40%.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a practical field study has been carried out with the intention to analyze and compare the performance of various types of commercially available solar panels under Malaysia's weather conditions, and four different types of solar panels, such as mono-crystalline silicon, multiscale silicon, amorphous silicon, and copper-indium-diselenide (CISD) solar panels are used for the real field study.


Journal ArticleDOI
Chensha Li1, Yuning Li2, Yiliang Wu2, Beng-S. Ong2, Rafik-O. Loutfy1 
TL;DR: In this paper, the preparation of stable, non-toxic, transparent, high performance zinc oxide (ZnO) thin-film semiconductors via thermal processing of solution-deposited precursor thin films in air is reported.
Abstract: Stable, solution-processed, non-toxic, high-mobility thin-film semiconductors are required for fabricating low-cost thin-film transistor (TFT) arrays and circuits to enable ubiquitous large-area and ultra low-cost electronics. Most thin-film semiconductors reported to date have been unable to meet the mobility, stability, safety, and cost requirements for this emerging technology, thus precluding their adoption in practical applications. Here, we report the preparation of stable, non-toxic, transparent, high performance zinc oxide (ZnO) thin-film semiconductors via thermal processing of solution-deposited precursor thin films in air. The process conditions influence the performance of the TFTs. By optimizing the fabrication conditions, the prepared ZnO thin-film semiconductor has a well-controlled, preferential crystal orientation and densely packed ZnO crystals, exhibiting excellent field-effect performance characteristics with mobility far exceeding those of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). Consistently reproducible mobility ∼5–6 cm2V−1s−1 and current on-to-off ratio ∼105–106 have been obtained, while the production cost was controlled as low as possible. This potentially opens up application opportunities inaccessible by a-Si:H technology and renders otherwise costly large-area electronics affordable.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Theoretical and experimental results show that the proposed color filters have high reflectance and, moreover, decrease the dependence on incident angle compared to one-dimensional photonic crystal color filters.
Abstract: Reflective color filters using two-dimensional photonic crystals based on sub-wavelength gratings were proposed and constructed. Using low-cost nanoimprint lithography, an amorphous silicon layer was deposited through the low-temperature PECVD process and patterned into two-dimensional structures. The isolated amorphous silicon patterns were readily crystallized using a multi-shot excimer laser annealing at low energy. A study of the close relationship between color filter reflectance and silicon pattern crystallinity is introduced. Theoretical and experimental results show that the proposed color filters have high reflectance and, moreover, decrease the dependence on incident angle compared to one-dimensional photonic crystal color filters.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the absorption enhancement by metallic nanodiscs in thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells was investigated and quantitatively evaluated by rigorously solving Maxwell's equations.
Abstract: We investigate the absorption enhancement by metallic nanodiscs in thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells. The effect is quantitatively evaluated by rigorously solving Maxwell’s equations. We show that 50% more photons can be absorbed using geometries accessible for current nanofabrication technologies. Moreover, the thinner the solar cell, the larger the absorption enhancement. Detailed investigations prove that the enhancement can be related to the excitation of localized plasmon polaritons. The simultaneous enhancement in both the near-field amplitude and the scattering cross section at resonance as the leading physical mechanism is discussed in detail.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focused on the characterization of the crystallization behavior of a-Ge films in the presence of 20 transition metals (Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Re, Fe, Ru, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, and Al).
Abstract: Metal induced crystallization (MIC) is a technique that lowers the crystallization temperature of amorphous semiconductors. The process has mainly been used to influence the crystallization of amorphous silicon (a-Si) and multiple studies on this subject have already been performed. The research of the MIC of amorphous Ge (a-Ge) has been mostly limited to the use of a Ni or Al film. This paper focuses on the characterization of the crystallization behavior of a-Ge films in the presence of 20 transition metals (Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Mn, Re, Fe, Ru, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, Au, and Al). The kinetics of the crystallization process are also systematically studied for the seven metals that lower the initial crystallization temperature the most. In addition, the influence of the thickness of the metal film was determined for the case of a Au and Al film. A comparison of the influence of the various metals on a-Ge and a-Si is made and the similarities and differences are discussed using existing models for the MIC process.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors fabricated metallic photonic crystal back-reflectors using photolithography and reactive-ion etching and deposited them in a-Si:H solar cells.
Abstract: Photonic crystal back-reflectors offer enhanced optical absorption in thin-film solar cells, without undesirable losses. We fabricated metallic photonic crystal back-reflectors using photolithography and reactive-ion etching and deposited a-Si:H solar cells. The photonic crystal has triangular lattice symmetry, a pitch of 760 nm, and was designed with rigorous simulations. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrates excellent long range periodicity and conformal a-Si:H growth. The average light absorption increases by 7%, relative to a flat reference device, with an enhancement factor approaching 6 at near-infrared wavelengths. The photonic crystal back reflector strongly diffracts light and increases optical path lengths of solar photons.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Explosive crystallization (EC) takes place during flash lamp annealing in micrometer-thick amorphous Si (a-Si) films deposited on glass substrates.
Abstract: Explosive crystallization (EC) takes place during flash lamp annealing in micrometer-thick amorphous Si (a-Si) films deposited on glass substrates. The EC starts from the edges of the a-Si films due to additional heating from flash lamp light. This is followed by lateral crystallization with a velocity on the order of m/s, leaving behind periodic microstructures in which regions containing several hundreds of nm-ordered grains and regions consisting of only 10-nm-sized fine grains alternatively appear. The formation of the dense grains can be understood as explosive solid-phase nucleation, whereas the several hundreds of nanometer-sized grains, stretched in the lateral direction, are probably formed through explosive liquid-phase epitaxy. This phenomenon will be applied to the high-throughput formation of thick poly-Si films for solar cells.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) was applied to silicon micro/nano-textured surfaces to obtain superhydrophobic surfaces with water contact angles of 155°.
Abstract: A novel way of producing superhydrophobic surfaces by applying a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) to silicon micro/nano-textured surfaces is presented in this paper. The micro/nano-textured surfaces on silicon substrates were generated by the aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) of amorphous silicon (a-Si) technique. Octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) SAMs were then applied to the textured surfaces by dip coating. The topography and wetting properties of the resulting surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a video-based contact angle measurement system. The results show that by introducing OTS SAMs on the silicon micro/nano-textured surfaces, superhydrophobic surfaces with water contact angles (WCAs) of 155° were obtained, as compared to the WCAs of OTS-modified smooth silicon surfaces of about 112°. Surface topography was found to directly influence the WCA as predicted by the Cassie-Baxter model.