Fabrication and optical characterization of Si nanowires formed by catalytic chemical etching in Ag2O/HF solution

► Synthesis of Si nanowire arrays by catalysis etching in a new chemical solution Ag2O-HF-H2O. ► Spectroscopic-ellipsometry study of catalytic-etched Si nanowire surface. ► Demonstration of the effectiveness of SPM cleaning for Si nanowire synthesis.