Single-Mask Fabrication of Sharp SiOx Nanocones
Date
2023-11-28
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing
Abstract
The patterning of silicon and silicon oxide nanocones onto the surfaces of devices introduces interesting phenomena such as anti-reflection and super-transmissivity. While silicon nanocone formation is well-documented, current techniques to fabricate silicon oxide nanocones either involve complex fabrication procedures, non-deterministic placement, or poor uniformity. Here, we introduce a single-mask dry etching procedure for the fabrication of sharp silicon oxide nanocones with smooth sidewalls and deterministic distribution using electron beam lithography. Silicon oxide films deposited using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition are etched using a thin alumina hard mask of selectivity > 88, enabling high aspect ratio nanocones with smooth sidewalls and arbitrary distribution across the target substrate. We further introduce a novel multi-step dry etching technique to achieve ultra-sharp amorphous silicon oxide nanocones with tip diameters of ~10 nm. The processes presented in this work may have applications in the fabrication of amorphous nanocone arrays onto arbitrary substrates or as nanoscale probes.
Description
This article was originally published in IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/TSM.2023.3336169. © 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. This article will be embargoed until 11/28/2025.
Keywords
angled sidewalls, dry etch, nanocones, silica, silicon oxide, single-mask
Citation
E. Herrmann and X. Wang, "Single-Mask Fabrication of Sharp SiOx Nanocones," in IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 87-92, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.1109/TSM.2023.3336169.