A technique for electrochemical etching of n-type silicon in aqueous hydrofluoric acid is presented. This technique differs from photoelectrochemical etching because the holes (positive carriers) needed for the dissolution reaction to occur, are not photogenerated. The principle developed here is to inject these positive carriers using a p-n junction under forward bias formed at the back side of the sample. Drift-diffusion of holes through the wafer thickness allows a chemical dissolution reaction at the interface with the electrolyte. To enable holes diffusing through the wafer the minority carrier lifetime must be sufficiently high making the technique well adapted for high resistivity silicon. However, extension to low resistivity wafers has been achieved. Results show the possibility of forming pore arrays and diverse 3D structures. (C) 2003 The Electrochemical Society.