Surface damage and metal-catalyzed chemical etching investigation of multicrystalline silicon by diamond wire sawing

•Surface features of diamond wire sawn cut multicrystalline silicon wafer were characterized and evaluated.•The formation mechanism of the damage layer of silicon wafer and how to remove it effectively were studied.•Metal-catalyzed chemical etching method is used to etch the surface of diamond wire sawn cut multicrystalline silicon wafer.•The influence of damage layer on making texture surface and the performance of solar cells was discussed.