Metal-Assisted Plasma Etching of Silicon: A Liquid-Free Alternative to MACE

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Sun ◽  
Benjamin Almquist
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Chemical Etching ◽  
Gold Films ◽  
Metallic Films ◽  
Au Catalyst ◽  
Feed Concentration ◽  
Catalytic Activities ◽  
Metal Assisted Chemical Etching ◽  
Complex Nanostructures

For decades, fabrication of semiconductor devices has utilized well-established etching techniques to create complex nanostructures in silicon. Of these, two of the most common are reactive ion etching in the gaseous phase and metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) in the liquid phase. Though these two methods are highly established and characterized, there is a surprising scarcity of reports exploring the ability of metallic films to catalytically enhance the etching of silicon in dry plasmas via a MACE-like mechanism. Here, we discuss a <u>m</u>etal-<u>a</u>ssisted <u>p</u>lasma <u>e</u>tch (MAPE) performed using patterned gold films to catalyze the etching of silicon in an SF<sub>6</sub>/O<sub>2</sub> mixed plasma, selectively increasing the rate of etching by over 1000%. The degree of enhancement as a function of Au catalyst configuration and relative oxygen feed concentration is characterized, along with the catalytic activities of other common MACE metals including Ag, Pt, and Cu. Finally, methods of controlling the etch process are briefly explored to demonstrate the potential for use as a liquid-free fabrication strategy.

Metal-Assisted Plasma Etching of Silicon: A Liquid-Free Alternative to MACE

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Sun ◽  
Benjamin Almquist
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Chemical Etching ◽  
Gold Films ◽  
Metallic Films ◽  
Au Catalyst ◽  
Feed Concentration ◽  
Catalytic Activities ◽  
Metal Assisted Chemical Etching ◽  
Complex Nanostructures

For decades, fabrication of semiconductor devices has utilized well-established etching techniques to create complex nanostructures in silicon. Of these, two of the most common are reactive ion etching in the gaseous phase and metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) in the liquid phase. Though these two methods are highly established and characterized, there is a surprising scarcity of reports exploring the ability of metallic films to catalytically enhance the etching of silicon in dry plasmas via a MACE-like mechanism. Here, we discuss a <u>m</u>etal-<u>a</u>ssisted <u>p</u>lasma <u>e</u>tch (MAPE) performed using patterned gold films to catalyze the etching of silicon in an SF<sub>6</sub>/O<sub>2</sub> mixed plasma, selectively increasing the rate of etching by over 1000%. The degree of enhancement as a function of Au catalyst configuration and relative oxygen feed concentration is characterized, along with the catalytic activities of other common MACE metals including Ag, Pt, and Cu. Finally, methods of controlling the etch process are briefly explored to demonstrate the potential for use as a liquid-free fabrication strategy.

Study of metal-assisted chemical etching of silicon as an alternative to dry etching for the development of vertical comb-drives

2021 ◽  
pp. 251659842110334
Author(s):  
Varun P. Sharma ◽  
Rahul Shukla ◽  
C. Mukherjee ◽  
Pragya Tiwari ◽  
A. K. Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Chemical Etching ◽  
Surface Defects ◽  
Metal Catalyst ◽  
Etching Time ◽  
Etch Depth ◽  
Au Catalyst ◽  
Comb Drives ◽  
Side Walls ◽  
Metal Assisted Chemical Etching

Metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCEtch) has recently emerged as a promising technique to etch anisotropic nano- and microstructures in silicon by metal catalysts. It is an economical wet chemical etching method, which can be a good alternative to deep-reactive ion etching (DRIE) process in terms of verticality and etch depth. In the present study, gold is used as a metal catalyst and deposited using physical vapour deposition. It has already been demonstrated that (100) p-type Si wafer can be etched with vertical and smooth side walls. Effects of varying concentrations of etchant constituents and various other parameters, that is, porosity of deposited Au, surface contaminants, oxide formation, metal catalyst, etching time, role of surface tension of additives on the etch depth and surface defects are studied and discussed in detail. By increasing the hydrofluoric acid (HF) concentration from 7.5 M to 10 M, lateral etching is reduced and the microstructure’s width is increased from 17 µm to 18 µm. Porous defects are suppressed by decreasing the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration from 1.5 M to 1 M. On increasing the etching time from 30 min to 60 min, the microstructures are over-etched laterally. Smoother side walls are fabricated by using the low-surface-tension additive ethanol. The maximum etch depth of 2.6 µm is achieved for Au catalyst in 30 min. The results are encouraging and useful for the development of vertical comb-drives and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS).

Silicon layers grown over SiO2 by liquid phase epitaxy: Electron Microscopical study

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 566-567
Author(s):  
F. Banhart ◽  
F.O. Phillipp ◽  
R. Bergmann ◽  
E. Czech ◽  
M. Konuma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Liquid Phase Epitaxy ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Microscopical Study ◽  
Sample Temperature ◽  
Structural Defects ◽  
Si Substrates ◽  
Etched Surface

Defect-free silicon layers grown on insulators (SOI) are an essential component for future three-dimensional integration of semiconductor devices. Liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) has proved to be a powerful technique to grow high quality SOI structures for devices and for basic physical research. Electron microscopy is indispensable for the development of the growth technique and reveals many interesting structural properties of these materials. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy can be applied to study growth mechanisms, structural defects, and the morphology of Si and SOI layers grown from metallic solutions of various compositions.The treatment of the Si substrates prior to the epitaxial growth described here is wet chemical etching and plasma etching with NF3 ions. At a sample temperature of 20°C the ion etched surface appeared rough (Fig. 1). Plasma etching at a sample temperature of −125°C, however, yields smooth and clean Si surfaces, and, in addition, high anisotropy (small side etching) and selectivity (low etch rate of SiO2) as shown in Fig. 2.

Influence of Etching Regimes on the Reflectance of Black Silicon Films Formed by Ni-Assisted Chemical Etching

2019 ◽  
Vol 806 ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga V. Volovlikova ◽  
S.A. Gavrilov ◽  
P.I. Lazarenko ◽  
A.V. Kukin ◽  
A.A. Dudin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Refractive Index ◽  
Treatment Duration ◽  
Chemical Etching ◽  
Visible Region ◽  
High Light ◽  
Silicon Films ◽  
Black Silicon ◽  
Metal Assisted Chemical Etching ◽  
Light Absorptance

This paper examines the influence of etching regimes on the reflectance of black silicon formed by Ni-assisted chemical etching. Black silicon exhibits properties of high light absorptance. The measured minimum values of the reflectance (R-min) of black silicon with thickness of 580 nm formed by metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) for 60 minutes at 460 lx illumination were 2,3% in the UV region (200–400 nm), 0,5% in the visible region (400–750 nm) and 0,3% in the IR region (750–1300 nm). The findings showed that the reflectance of black silicon depends on its thickness, illumination and treatment duration. In addition, the porosity and refractive index were calculated.

scholarly journals Formation and Evaluation of Silicon Substrate with Highly-Doped Porous Si Layers Formed by Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijie Li ◽  
Nguyen Van Toan ◽  
Zhuqing Wang ◽  
Khairul Fadzli Bin Samat ◽  
Takahito Ono
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Seebeck Coefficient ◽  
Contact Resistance ◽  
Power Factor ◽  
Chemical Etching ◽  
Porous Si ◽  
Si Substrate ◽  
Si Substrates ◽  
Output Performance ◽  
Metal Assisted Chemical Etching

AbstractPorous silicon (Si) is a low thermal conductivity material, which has high potential for thermoelectric devices. However, low output performance of porous Si hinders the development of thermoelectric performance due to low electrical conductivity. The large contact resistance from nonlinear contact between porous Si and metal is one reason for the reduction of electrical conductivity. In this paper, p- and n-type porous Si were formed on Si substrate by metal-assisted chemical etching. To decrease contact resistance, p- and n-type spin on dopants are employed to dope an impurity element into p- and n-type porous Si surface, respectively. Compared to the Si substrate with undoped porous samples, ohmic contact can be obtained, and the electrical conductivity of doped p- and n-type porous Si can be improved to 1160 and 1390 S/m, respectively. Compared with the Si substrate, the special contact resistances for the doped p- and n-type porous Si layer decreases to 1.35 and 1.16 mΩ/cm2, respectively, by increasing the carrier concentration. However, the increase of the carrier concentration induces the decline of the Seebeck coefficient for p- and n-type Si substrates with doped porous Si samples to 491 and 480 μV/K, respectively. Power factor is related to the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of thermoelectric material, which is one vital factor that evaluates its output performance. Therefore, even though the Seebeck coefficient values of Si substrates with doped porous Si samples decrease, the doped porous Si layer can improve the power factor compared to undoped samples due to the enhancement of electrical conductivity, which facilitates its development for thermoelectric application.

scholarly journals Replacing Metals with Oxides in Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching Enables Direct Fabrication of Silicon Nanowires by Solution Processing

Nano Letters ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 2310-2317
Author(s):  
Maxime Gayrard ◽  
Justine Voronkoff ◽  
Cédric Boissière ◽  
David Montero ◽  
Laurence Rozes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Nanowires ◽  
Chemical Etching ◽  
Solution Processing ◽  
Direct Fabrication ◽  
Metal Assisted Chemical Etching
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