Abstract:Lotus-type porous silicon with elongated pores was fabricated by unidirectional solidification under pressurized hydrogen. Porosity, pore diameter, and pore length can be adjusted by changing solidification speed and hydrogen pressure. The porosity of the ingot is nearly constant under different solidification speeds, but decreases with the increase of hydrogen pressure. The overall porosities of ingots fabricated at different hydrogen pressures were evaluated through a theoretical model. Findings are in good agreement with experimental values. The average pore diameter and pore length increase simultaneously while the average pore aspect ratio changes slightly with the decreases of solidification speed and hydrogen pressure. The average pore length is raised from 7 to 24 mm and the pore aspect ratio is raised from 8 to 20 respectively with the average pore diameter promoted by about 0.3 mm through improving the superheat degree of the melt from 200 to 300 K.

Key words: lotus-type porous silicon; solidification speed; hydrogen pressure; superheat degree; pore length