ABSTRACT
Silicon is the central material of the digital age. After all, we call it Silicon Valley. Yet many integrated circuit technologists will tell you that it is not the properties of Si but those of its oxide, or more accurately, the properties of the SiO2/Si interface that ushered in the Silicon Age. In much the same manner, while Si is essential to the characteristics, properties, and performance of porous silicon (PSi) and Si nanowires (SiNW) in applications, it is the nature of the H-terminated Si interface in HF that makes Si so versatile. Understanding the role of this interface is essential to understanding etching and the formation of porous silicon (Gerischer et al. 1993; Kolasinski 2003, 2009).
