Effect of tetramethylammonium hydroxide/isopropyl alcohol wet etching on geometry and surface roughness of silicon nanowires fabricated by AFM lithography

The optimization of etchant parameters in wet etching plays an important role in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. Wet etching of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)/isopropyl alcohol (IPA) on silicon nanowires fabricated by AFM lithography is studied herein. TMAH (25 wt %) with different I...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Beilstein journal of nanotechnology 2016, Vol.7 (1), p.1461-1470
Main Authors: Yusoh, Siti Noorhaniah, Yaacob, Khatijah Aisha
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AFM lithography
Atomic force microscopy
Caustic soda
Etchants
Etching
Full Research Paper
Humidity
Isopropanol
isopropyl alcohol
Lithography
Nanoscience
Nanotechnology
Nanowires
Optimization
Parameters
Potash
Potassium
Researchers
Semiconductor devices
Silicon
silicon nanowires
Silicon wafers
Single crystals
Surface roughness
tetramethylammonium hydroxide
wet etching
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Summary:The optimization of etchant parameters in wet etching plays an important role in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. Wet etching of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)/isopropyl alcohol (IPA) on silicon nanowires fabricated by AFM lithography is studied herein. TMAH (25 wt %) with different IPA concentrations (0, 10, 20, and 30 vol %) and etching time durations (30, 40, and 50 s) were investigated. The relationships between etching depth and width, and etching rate and surface roughness of silicon nanowires were characterized in detail using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The obtained results indicate that increased IPA concentration in TMAH produced greater width of the silicon nanowires with a smooth surface. It was also observed that the use of a longer etching time causes more unmasked silicon layers to be removed. Importantly, throughout this study, wet etching with optimized parameters can be applied in the design of the devices with excellent performance for many applications.
ISSN:2190-4286
2190-4286
DOI:10.3762/bjnano.7.138