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Silicon Nanostructures Fabricated by Scanning Probe Oxidation and Tetramethyl Ammonium Hydroxide 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 lithography in 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.
Citation
Journal of Applied Physics
Volume
91(12)

Keywords

anisotropic etching, nanostructures, optoelectronics, scanning probe microscopy

Citation

Chien, F. , Hsieh, W. , Gwo, S. , Vladar, A. and Dagata, J. (2002), Silicon Nanostructures Fabricated by Scanning Probe Oxidation and Tetramethyl Ammonium Hydroxide Etching, Journal of Applied Physics (Accessed March 29, 2024)
Created June 14, 2002, Updated October 12, 2021