Sanchez-Perez, ClaraGarcia, IvanRey-Stolle, Ignacio2025-01-292025-01-292022-03-30Clara Sanchez-Perez, Ivan Garcia, Ignacio Rey-Stolle, Fast chemical thinning of germanium wafers for optoelectronic applications, Applied Surface Science, Volume 579, 2022, 152199, ISSN 0169-4332, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.152199.1873-5584 (online)0169-4332 (print)https://hdl.handle.net/10115/67337Chemical thinning of germanium wafers was carried out in H3PO4:HNO3:HF aqueous solutions, in which etch rates and surface morphology was adjusted through changes in etchant dilution and viscosity. Pitless and smooth surfaces (RMS = 0.42 nm) were obtained at industrially acceptable rates via a diffusion-controlled mechanism. Etchant-resistant wax enabled reversible bonding to a polypropylene substrate, emerging as a potential route for industrial production of thinned germanium optoelectronics.enAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Wafer thinningphotovoltaicsoptoelectronicssolar cell processingArticlehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.152199info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess