Surface oxides of crystalline Si wafer (c-Si) has been etched by argon (Ar) ion beam (IB) bombarding. The contact angles of water droplet (WCA) on the c-Si wafer, before and after IB etching, have been measured. It's been observed that the c-Si wafer surfaces turn to hydrophobic after IB etching. This may be due to a surface texturization by ions bombarding. The cleanliness of wafer surfaces has been evaluated as well. It is speculated that IB etching may be an alternative to hydrofluoric acid

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... HF) in terms of Si oxides removal and be advantageous because of its non-chemical hazardousness. The IB bombarding may also be applied to the fabrication of c-Si solar cells, for the purpose of forming the anti-reflection layer via texturization.