Subsequent Selective Wet Etching Research Articles

Fabrication of microstructures in the bulk and on the surface of sapphire by anisotropic selective wet etching of laser-affected volumes

In this paper a processing technique for sapphire is presented which combines laser-induced amorphization and subsequent selective wet etching of amorphized sapphire as well as anisotropic wet etching of single-crystalline sapphire (α-Al2O3). Using this technique, microstructures can be realized on the surface and in the bulk of sapphire substrates. By focusing ultra-short laser pulses inside sapphire, its structure can be transformed from crystalline into amorphous. The modified material can be selectively removed using etchants, such as hydrofluoric acid or potassium hydroxide (KOH), solely dissolving the amorphized part. In this work, however, an etchant consisting of a standard solution of sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid (96 vol% H2SO4: 85 vol% H3PO4, 3:1 vol%) at 180 °C is utilized. This method allows the realization of structures which are impossible to achieve when using conventional etchants which solely dissolve the amorphized sapphire. Ultrashort pulsed laser irradiation (230 fs) is used in this study as starting point for the subsequent anisotropic etching to form microstructures on the surface or in the bulk of sapphire that are terminated by characteristic crystal planes. In particular, the appearance of etching-induced patterns formed by stacks of rhombohedra is shown for structures below the surface, whereas triangular pits are achieved in surface processing.

Plasmonic tooth-multilayer structure with high enhancement field for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

The significant enhancement seen in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) heavily relies on the ability of plasmonic structures to strongly confine light. Current techniques used to fabricate plasmonic nanostructures have been limited in their reproducibility for bottom-up techniques or their feature size for top-down techniques. Here, we propose a tooth multilayer structure that can be fabricated by using physical vapor deposition and selective wet etching, achieving extremely small feature sizes and high reproducibility. A multilayer structure composed of two alternating materials whose thicknesses can be controlled accurately in the nanometer range is deposited on a flat substrate using ion-beam sputtering. Subsequent selective wet etching is used to form nanogaps in one of the materials constituting the multilayer, with the depth of the nanogaps being controlled by the wet etching time. Combining both techniques can allow the nanogap dimensions to be controlled at sub 10 nm length scale, thus achieving a tooth multilayer structure with high enhancement and tunability of the resonance mode over a broad range, ideal for SERS applications.

Sacrificial structures for deep reactive ion etching of high-aspect ratio kinoform silicon x-ray lenses

This article describes the realization of complex high-aspect ratio silicon structures with feature dimensions from 100 μm to 100 nm by deep reactive ion etching using the Bosch process. As the exact shape of the sidewall profiles can be crucial for the proper functioning of a device, the authors investigated how sacrificial structures in the form of guarding walls and pillars may be utilized to facilitate accurate control of the etch profile. Unlike other sacrificial structuring approaches, no silicon-on-insulator substrates or multiple lithography steps are required. In addition, the safe removal of the sacrificial structures was accomplished by thermal oxidation and subsequent selective wet etching. The effects of the dimensions and relative placement of sacrificial walls and pillars on the etching result were determined through systematic experiments. The authors applied this process for exact sidewall control in the manufacture of x-ray lenses that are very sensitive to sidewall shape nonuniformities. Compound kinoform lenses for focusing hard x-rays with structure heights of 200 μm were manufactured, and the lenses were tested in terms of their focusing ability and refracting qualities using synchrotron radiation at a photon energy of 17 keV. A 180 μm long line focus with a waist of 430 nm at a focal length of 215 mm was obtained.

Sub-surface channels in sapphire made by ultraviolet picosecond laser irradiation and selective etching

We demonstrate the realization of sub-surface channels in sapphire prepared by ultraviolet picosecond laser irradiation and subsequent selective wet etching. By optimizing the pulse energy and the separation between individual laser pulses, an optimization of channel length can be achieved with an aspect ratio as high as 3200. Due to strong variation in channel length, further investigation was done to improve the reproducibility. By multiple irradiations the standard deviation of the channel length could be reduced to 2.2%. The achieved channel length together with the high reproducibility and the use of a commercial picosecond laser system makes the process attractive for industrial application.

Characterization of Si nanowires fabricated by Ga+ FIB implantation and subsequent selective wet etching

Local gallium (Ga) ion implantation in silicon (Si) by focused ion beam and subsequent anisotropic and selective wet etching have been used to fabricate freely suspended nanowires (NWs) with reproducible widths between 20 and 200 nm. The dependence of the resulting NW width on the implanted fluence has been investigated and is supported by a numerical model reproducing the experimental data and enabling an a priori estimation of the NW width as a function of the implanted fluence. Furthermore, the resistance of the NWs, its temperature dependence and the activation energy for electrical current flow were investigated before and after direct current annealing in air and in vacuum. Annealed NWs showed a decrease of their resistivity up to two orders of magnitude, indicating a partial recrystallization of the NWs through self-heating and a change in the conduction. The assumption of recrystallization is supported by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy.

Single cell detection using a glass-based optofluidic device fabricated by femtosecond laser pulses

We demonstrate the fabrication of integrated three-dimensional microchannel and optical waveguide structures inside fused silica for the interrogation and processing of single cells. The microchannels are fabricated by scanning femtosecond laser pulses (523 nm) and subsequent selective wet etching process. Optical waveguides are additionally integrated with the fabricated microchannels by scanning the laser pulse train inside the glass specimen. Single red blood cells (RBC) in diluted human blood inside of the manufactured microchannel were detected by two optical schemes. The first involved sensing the intensity change of waveguide-delivered He-Ne laser light (632.8 nm) induced by the refractive index difference of a cell flowing in the channel. The other approach was via detection of fluorescence emission from dyed RBC excited by Ar laser light (488 nm) delivered by the optical waveguide. The proposed device was tested to detect 23 fluorescent particles per second by increasing the flow rate up to 0.5 microl min(-1). The optical cell detection experiments support potential implementation of a new generation of glass-based optofluidic biochip devices in various single cell treatment processes including laser based cell processing and sensing.

Selective etching in LiNbO 3 combined of MeV O and Si ion implantation with wet-etch technique

The selected etching in lithium niobate (LiNbO 3) crystals is carried out by two different ion implantation and differential wet etching. The LiNbO 3 samples are cleaned and partially masked with photoresist in lithographic procedure firstly, followed by 1.5 MeV O + or Si + ion implantation at a dose of 1×10 15 ions/cm 2 at room temperature. It is found that the ion implanted region can be etched more easily than that protected by photoresist mask using mixture of hydrofluoric and nitric acids at room temperature. The surface morphology of the etched samples is examined using surface profilometer and SEM. Ridge structures are formed by the ion implantation and the subsequent selective wet etching. The results show that this technique may be suitable for fabrication of high quality ridge waveguides.

Ultrasmall nanoscale devices fabricated from compensating-layer GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures

Nanoscale devices are fabricated from modulation-doped GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures, where the two-dimensional electron system is initially depleted. Upon removing the p-type capping layer that compensates for the n-type supply layer, the electron system is induced. Arbitrarily shaped areal, line, and dot elements, i.e. the nanostructures and 2D leads, are simultaneously fabricated by patterning a thin resist layer with an atomic force microscope and subsequent selective wet etching. In this way a single-electron transistor (SET) with a 60 nm diameter island, a 60 nm wide electron waveguide (EWG), and an Aharonov–Bohm (AB) loop of 110 nm average diameter are prepared. Measurements at T=1.5 K reveal Coulomb-blockade, quantized conductance and AB-oscillations for the SET, EWG, and AB loop, respectively. Finally, an EWG is demonstrated in split-gate geometry where the compensating layer is used as split gate.

Aharonov–Bohm effect in nanoscale quantum rings fabricated from compensating-layer GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures

Nanoscale devices are fabricated from modulation-doped GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures, where the two-dimensional electron system is initially depleted. Upon removing the p-type capping layer that compensates for the n-type supply layer, the electron system is induced. Aharonov–Bohm (AB) loops of 110 and 160 nm diameter (average) and 35 nm width and conducting areas as leads are formed by patterning a thin resistant layer with an atomic force microscope and subsequent selective wet etching. At T=4.2 K and under perpendicular magnetic field the differential conductance of the AB loops exhibits an oscillatory pattern imposed on a smoothly varying background. The AB oscillation period of 480 mT (220 mT) corresponds well to the geometric dimension of the small (large) ring.

Quantum wire fabrication from compensating-layer GaAs–AlGaAs heterostructures

Abstract Nanoscale devices are fabricated from modulation-doped GaAs–AlGaAs heterostructures, where the two-dimensional electron system is initially depleted. Upon removing the p-type capping layer that compensates for the n-type supply layer the electron system is induced. Quantum wire structures and conducting areas as leads are formed by patterning a thin resist layer with an atomic force microscope and subsequent selective wet etching. At T=4.2 K the electrical characteristics of a quantum point contact and a 250-nm long quantum wire exhibit quantized ballistic conductance.