Abstract
As a maskless nanofabrication technique, friction-induced selective etching can easily produce nanopatterns on a Si(100) surface. Experimental results indicated that the height of the nanopatterns increased with the KOH etching time, while their width increased with the scratching load. It has also found that a contact pressure of 6.3 GPa is enough to fabricate a mask layer on the Si(100) surface. To understand the mechanism involved, the cross-sectional microstructure of a scratched area was examined, and the mask ability of the tip-disturbed silicon layer was studied. Transmission electron microscope observation and scanning Auger nanoprobe analysis suggested that the scratched area was covered by a thin superficial oxidation layer followed by a thick distorted (amorphous and deformed) layer in the subsurface. After the surface oxidation layer was removed by HF etching, the residual amorphous and deformed silicon layer on the scratched area can still serve as an etching mask in KOH solution. The results may help to develop a low-destructive, low-cost, and flexible nanofabrication technique suitable for machining of micro-mold and prototype fabrication in micro-systems.
Highlights
Due to its excellent mechanical and physical properties, monocrystalline silicon has been widely used in micro/nanoelectromechanical systems [1,2]
The results strongly suggested that besides the oxidation layer, the distorted silicon layer can reveal excellent mask ability in KOH solution
After the oxidation layer on the silicon surface was removed by etching in HF solution for 3 min, the height of the mesa decreased to 1.4 nm (Figure 9b)
Summary
Due to its excellent mechanical and physical properties, monocrystalline silicon has been widely used in micro/. The typical microscale and nanoscale fabrication technique of silicon devices is photolithography [3]. It has a strong merit in mass production, photolithography is not suitable for flexible machining of micro-mold and prototype fabrication in micro-systems. In the previous studies [12,13,14,15], some researchers suggested that the superficial oxygen-rich layer acted as a mask during KOH etching. The mask ability of the thin oxygen-rich layer may be limited, and the thick tip-disturbed silicon layer (from tens to hundreds of nanometers) may serve as an etching mask in KOH solution. Http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/7/1/152 understand the fabrication mechanism involved, the cross-sectional microstructure of the scratched area was observed, and the mask ability of the tip-disturbed layer was studied. The results may provide a way towards developing a low-destructive, low-cost, and flexible nanofabrication technique
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