Metal nanolayer formed by tunnelling current through thin oxide in the electrolyte–oxide–silicon system

Abstract

We propose a method of forming metal nanoparticles or layers on the oxide by tunnelling current of the EOS (electrolyte–oxide–silicon) system. Electrical characteristics of the metal layer and particles obtained experimentally by the proposed method are compared with the electrolyte–metal–oxide–silicon and the metal–oxide–silicon systems. Also, it is shown that the instability of the EOS system is caused by the H+ penetration into the oxide and is largely cured by applying alternative voltage to extract the H+ ions from the oxide. We show that the proposed technique can selectively deposit extremely thin metal layers on the active sites of the silicon surface in a self-alignment manner.