Selectively grown vertical silicon nanowire p-n+ photodiodes via aqueous electroless etching

► Simple method to selectively grow vertically-aligned SiNWs by photolithography and aqueous electroless etching. ► The use of SU-8-2002 provides a high selectivity for the etching reaction on the exposed surface of (1 0 0) Si substrate. ► p-n+ junction SiNW photodiode arrays were fabricated and their electrical and optical properties were measured. ► SiNW photodiode exhibited higher performances compared to those of the planar device.