A solid-liquid-vapor mechanism for anisotropic silicon etching

作者：O'Toole Martin^*; Boland John J

来源：Applied Physics Letters, 2008, 93(26): 263107.

DOI：10.1063/1.3055606

• annealing
• elemental semiconductors
• etching
• gold
• nanowires
• semiconductor growth
• semiconductor materials
• silicon

Here we report on a technique for anisotropic etching of silicon similar to the well established vapor-liquid-solid technique for the growth of semiconductor nanowires. By annealing a patterned gold line on a H terminated silicon surface, Si atoms diffuse into the Au to form a eutectic phase. Upon exposure to etchant gases the dissolved silicon reacts and desorbs from the eutectic phase causing additional silicon to diffuse from the substrate to re-establish the equilibrium eutectic composition. In this manner the patterned eutectic material becomes anisotropically etched into the silicon substrate, in a process we call solid liquid vapor etching.

• 出版日期2008-12-29