Fabrication of nanostructures by dry etching using dewetting Pt islands as etch-masks

Abstract

A method for fabrication of nano-scale GaN structure by inductively coupled plasma etching is proposed, exploiting a thermal dewetting of Pt thin film as an etch mask. The nano-scale Pt metal islands were formed by the dewetting of 2-dimensional film on <TEX>$SiO_2$</TEX> dielectric materials during rapid thermal annealing process. For the case of 30 nm thick Pt films, pattern formation and dewetting was initiated at temperatures greater <TEX>$600^{\circ}C$</TEX>. Controlling the annealing temperature and time as well as the thickness of the Pt metal film affected the size and density of Pt islands. The activation energy for the formation of Pt metal island was calculated to be 23.2 KJ/mole. The islands show good resistance to dry etching by a <TEX>$CF_4$</TEX> based plasma for dielectric etching indicating that the metal islands produced by dewetting are suitable for use as an etch mask in the fabrication of nano-scale structures.