Dry etching of monocrystalline silicon using a laser-induced reactive micro plasma

In the present work, a novel hybrid finishing process that combines the two preferred methods in industries, namely, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) and magneto-rheological finishing (MRF), has been used to polish monocrystalline silicon wafers. The experiments were carried out on an indigenously developed double-disc chemical assisted magnetorheological finishing (DDCAMRF) experimental setup. The central composite design (CCD) was used to plan the experiments in order to estimate the effect of various process factors, namely polishing speed, slurry flow rate, percentage CIP concentration, and working gap on the surface roughness ([Formula: see text]) by DDCAMRF process. The analysis of variance was carried out to determine and analyze the contribution of significant factors affecting the surface roughness of polished silicon wafer. The statistical investigation revealed that percentage CIP concentration with a contribution of 30.6% has the maximum influence on the process performance followed by working gap (21.4%), slurry flow rate (14.4%), and polishing speed (1.65%). The surface roughness of polished silicon wafers was measured by the 3 D optical profilometer. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were carried out to understand the surface morphology of polished silicon wafer. It was found that the surface roughness of silicon wafer improved with the increase in polishing speed and slurry flow rate, whereas it was deteriorated with the increase in percentage CIP concentration and working gap.

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Fabrication of Ultranarrow Nanochannels with Ultrasmall Nanocomponents in Glass Substrates

Micromachines ◽

10.3390/mi12070775 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 775

Author(s):

Hiroki Kamai ◽

Yan Xu

Keyword(s):

Electron Beam ◽

Electron Beam Lithography ◽

Dry Etching ◽

Dissimilar Material ◽

Glass Substrates ◽

Nanofluidic Devices ◽

Fundamental Research ◽

Fine Glass ◽

Physical Phenomena

Nanofluidics is supposed to take advantage of a variety of new physical phenomena and unusual effects at nanoscales typically below 100 nm. However, the current chip-based nanofluidic applications are mostly based on the use of nanochannels with linewidths above 100 nm, due to the restricted ability of the efficient fabrication of nanochannels with narrow linewidths in glass substrates. In this study, we established the fabrication of nanofluidic structures in glass substrates with narrow linewidths of several tens of nanometers by optimizing a nanofabrication process composed of electron-beam lithography and plasma dry etching. Using the optimized process, we achieved the efficient fabrication of fine glass nanochannels with sub-40 nm linewidths, uniform lateral features, and smooth morphologies, in an accurate and precise way. Furthermore, the use of the process allowed the integration of similar or dissimilar material-based ultrasmall nanocomponents in the ultranarrow nanochannels, including arrays of pockets with volumes as less as 42 zeptoliters (zL, 10−21 L) and well-defined gold nanogaps as narrow as 19 nm. We believe that the established nanofabrication process will be very useful for expanding fundamental research and in further improving the applications of nanofluidic devices.

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