Simple approach to wafer-scale self-cleaning antireflective silicon surfaces

A simple approach to wafer-scale self-cleaning antireflective hierarchical silicon structures is demonstrated. By employing the KOH etching and silver catalytic etching, pyramidal hierarchical structures were generated on the crystalline silicon wafer, which exhibit strong antireflection and superhydrophobic properties after fluorination. Furthermore, a flexible superhydrophobic substrate was fabricated by transferring the hierarchical Si structure to the NOA 63 film with UV-assisted imprint lithography. This method is of potential application in optical, optoelectronic, and wettability control devices.