The origins of pressure-induced phase transformations during the surface texturing of silicon using femtosecond laser irradiation

Surface texturing of silicon using femtosecond (fs) laser irradiation is an attractive method for enhancing light trapping, but the laser-induced damage that occurs in parallel with surface texturing can inhibit device performance. In this work, we investigate the light-material interaction during the texturing of silicon by directly correlating the formation of pressure-induced silicon polymorphs, fs-laser irradiation conditions, and the resulting morphology and microstructure using scanning electron microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. We show that raster scanning a pulsed laser beam with a Gaussian profile enhances the formation of crystalline pressure-induced silicon polymorphs by an order of magnitude compared with stationary pulsed fs-laser irradiation. Based on these observations, we identify resolidification-induced stresses as the mechanism responsible for driving sub-surface phase transformations during the surface texturing of silicon, the understanding of which is an important first step towards reducing laser-induced damage during the texturing of silicon with fs-laser irradiation.Chesonis Family FoundationNational Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award CBET 0754227)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award CHE-DMR-DMS 0934480)National Science Foundation (U.S.). ERC–QESST (EEC-1041895)United States. Dept. of Defense (National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, 32 CFR 168a)R. J. McElroy Trus