Simple Wet Etching Technique Research Articles

Wet etching technique for fabrication of a high-quality plastic optical fiber sensor.

In this study, a simple wet etching technique is developed by employing aqueous solutions of acetic acid and ultrasonic irradiation for the fabrication of a high-quality plastic optical fiber (POF) sensor. The effects of acetic acid concentration and temperature and ultrasonic power on the etching rate and surface morphology of the etched POFs are investigated. The transmission spectrum and sensitivity of the etched POF sensors are evaluated using glucose solutions. We discovered that the POF sensors, which are fabricated using an aqueous solution of acetic acid with a concentration of 80vol. % under an ultrasonic power of 130W and temperature of 25°C, exhibit good light transmission and a high sensitivity of 9.10 [(RIU)(g/L)]-1 in the glucose solutions.

Controllable end shape modification of ZnO nano-arrays/rods by a simple wet chemical etching technique

The well-aligned ZnO nano-arrays/rods synthesized by a chemical bath deposition method on a highly conductive Si substrate were chemically etched in an ammonia chloride aqueous solution. An obvious end shape modification of ZnO nano-arrays/rods was realized in this report. The hexagonal frustum end of ZnO nano-arrays/rods changed into a pyramid and the diameter of ZnO nano-arrays/rods decreased gradually with the increasing etching time. The evolution mechanism of the wet etching process was discussed based on a proposed evolution model. Photoluminescence measurements indicated that the near band edge emissions of ZnO nano-arrays/rods increased greatly after wet etching. The controllable end shape modification of ZnO nano-arrays/rods on a highly conductive Si substrate by this simple wet etching technique will further explore the application of ZnO in field emission devices and 1D based nano-devices with various end shapes.

Highly oriented, free-standing, superconducting NbN films growth on chemical vapor deposited graphene

NbN films are grown on chemical vapor deposited graphene using dc magnetron sputtering. The orientation and transition temperature of the deposited films is studied as a function of substrate temperature. A superconducting transition temperature of 14 K is obtained for highly oriented (111) films grown at substrate temperature of 150 °C, which is comparable to epitaxial films grown on MgO and sapphire substrates. These films show a considerably high upper critical field of ∼33 T. In addition, we demonstrate a process for obtaining flexible, free-standing NbN films by delaminating graphene from the substrate using a simple wet etching technique. These free-standing NbN layers can be transferred to any substrate, potentially enabling a range of novel superconducting thin-film applications.

A PDMS membrane microvalve with one-dimensional line valve seat for robust microfluidics

We have developed a monolithic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane microvalve with an isotropically etched valve seat for robust microfluidics. In order to avoid bonding or sticking of the PDMS membrane to the valve seat during the bonding process, the valve seat was wet-etched to be a one-dimensional line instead of a plane. The simple wet-etching technique allowed for the fabrication of an anti-bonding architecture in a scalable manner, and it intrinsically prevented contact between the PDMS membrane and valve seat when no external force was applied (i.e., normally open). This approach enables the permanent device assembly so that the microfluidic chip can be operable in a wide range of fluid pressures (e.g., over 200 kPa) without any leakage and sticking problems.

Enhancement of light output power in GaN-based light-emitting diodes using indium tin oxide films with nanoporous structures

We fabricated GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a transparent ohmic contact made from nanoporous indium tin oxide (ITO). The nanoporous structures are easily made and controlled using a simple wet etching technique. The transmittance, sheet resistance, and root-mean-square surface roughness of the nanoporous ITO films are correlated strongly with the etch times. On the basis of the experimental values of these parameters, we choose an optimum etch time of 50 s for the fabrication of LEDs. The wall-plug efficiency of the LEDs with nanoporous ITO is increased by 35% compared to conventional LEDs at an injection current of 20 mA. This improvement is attributed to the increase in light scattering at the nanoporous ITO film-to-air interface.

Power characteristics of AlN/GaN MISFETs on sapphire substrate

AlN/GaN metal insulator semiconductor field effect transistors (MISFETs) on a sapphire substrate with 5 nm AlN barrier layer were fabricated using a simple wet-etching technique. Fabricated AlN/GaN MISFETs with 1 µm gate length and 200 µm gate width showed a maximum drain current density of 380 mA/mm and a peak extrinsic transconductance of 85 mS/mm. Power characteristics were measured at 2 GHz and showed an output power density of 850 mW/mm with 23.8% PAE and 13.1 dB linear gain at a drain bias of 15 V.