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Silicon Nanostructures Fabricated by Scanning Probe Lithography and TMAH Etching
Published
Author(s)
F S. Chien, W F. Hsieh, S Gwo, Andras Vladar, John A. Dagata
Abstract
Fabrication of silicon nanostructures is a key technique for the development of monolithically integrated optoelectronic circuits. We demonstrate that the process of scanning probe lithography (SPL) and anisotropic TMAH etching is a low-cost and reliable method to produce smooth and uniform silicon nanostructures on a variety of silicon substrates. Etched structures with a pitch of 100 nm, positive- and negative-contrast structures, and features height greater than 100 nm have been produced on bare silicon, Si3N4-coated and silicon-on-insulator wafers. Evolution of hexagonal pits on two-dimensional grid structures are shown to depend on the pattern spacing and orientation with respect to (110)-silicon crystal directions. We successfully combined SPL with traditional optical lithographyin a mixed, multilevel patterning method for realizing micrometer- and nanometer-scale feature sizes, as required for photonic device designs. The process of SPL + TMAH etching is a promising approach to rapid prototyping of functional nano-pholonic devices.
Chien, F.
, Hsieh, W.
, Gwo, S.
, Vladar, A.
and Dagata, J.
(2002),
Silicon Nanostructures Fabricated by Scanning Probe Lithography and TMAH Etching, Journal of Applied Physics
(Accessed March 28, 2024)