Controlling the nanodot formation on GaAs surface during focused ion beam processing

GaAs processed using gallium-focused ion beams for the fabrication of photonic devices mostly results in gallium nanodots on the surface. These gallium nanodots may produce unwanted effects and deteriorate the optical and electrical properties of the devices. We have investigated the FIB processing of GaAs with and without exposure to an insulator-enhanced etching precursor gas (XeF₂) to explore the use of XeF₂ during GaAs processing. It is reported that without the gas, FIB processing results in nanodots on the surface that vary in size and density depending on processing parameters such as incident energy, beam current, angle and dwell time. Processing with insulator (XeF₂)-enhanced etching gas irrespective of the process parameters eliminates the nanodots and results in a smooth surface, as characterized by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. This method will be useful for surfaces which require dry processing without exposure to any wet chemical etching.     

Excellent passivation of thin silicon wafers by HF‐free hydrogen plasma etching using an industrial ICPECVD tool

In this work, hydrogen plasma etching of surface oxides was successfully accomplished on thin (～100 µm) planar n‐type Czochralski silicon wafers prior to intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon [a‐Si:H(i)] deposition for heterojunction solar cells, using an industrial inductively coupled plasma‐enhanced chemical vapour deposition (ICPECVD) platform. The plasma etching process is intended as a dry alternative to the conventional wet‐chemical hydrofluoric acid (HF) dip for solar cell processing. After symmetrical deposition of an a‐Si:H(i) passivation layer, high effective carrier lifetimes of up to 3.7 ms are obtained, which are equivalent to effective surface recombination velocities of 1.3 cm s^–1 and an implied open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) of 741 mV. The passivation quality is excellent and comparable to other high quality a‐Si:H(i) passivation. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy shows evidence of plasma‐silicon interactions and a sub‐nanometre interfacial layer. Using electron energy‐loss spectroscopy, this layer is further investigated and confirmed to be hydrogenated suboxide layers. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Investigation of etch characteristics of non-polar GaN by wet chemical etching

We characterized the surface defects in a-plane GaN, grown onto r-plane sapphire using a defect-selective etching (DSE) method. The surface morphology of etching pits in a-plane GaN was investigated by using different combination ratios of H₃PO₄ and H₂SO₄ etching media. Different local etching rates between smooth and defect-related surfaces caused variation of the etch pits made by a 1:3 ratio of H₃PO₄/H₂SO₄ etching solution. Analysis results of surface morphology and composition after etching by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) demonstrated that wet chemical etching conditions could show the differences in surface morphology and chemical bonding on the a-plane GaN surface. The etch pits density (EPD) was determined as 3.1 × 10⁸ cm⁻² by atom force microscopy (AFM).     

Fabrication of three-dimensional crystalline microstructures by selective ion implantation and chemical etching

We present a new fabrication technique to produce three-dimensional (3D) microstructures on crystalline substrate using selective ion implantation and chemical etching. Localized lattice-damage layers at the specified depth beneath the substrate surface are formed by selective ion implantation. After etching out the partial surface regions and the buried lattice-damage layers by chemical etching, the 3D crystalline microstructures are produced. This technique is demonstrated on LiNbO₃ crystal to produce undercutting and free-standing microstructures, including microwire, microring, and microdisk. The measurement results of micro-Raman spectra show that the used fabrication process does not affect the original crystalline structure. The features of this technique include smooth structure surface, large undercutting range, and auto-etching stop. By using multiple implantations or repeating the proposed process several times, versatile 3D crystalline microstructures can be produced.     

Dry‐etching‐assisted femtosecond laser machining

Femtosecond laser machining has been widely used for fabricating arbitrary 2.5 dimensional (2.5D) structures. However, it suffers from the problems of low fabrication efficiency and high surface roughness when processing hard materials. To solve these problems, we propose a dry‐etching‐assisted femtosecond laser machining (DE‐FsLM) approach in this paper. The fabrication efficiency could be significantly improved for the formation of complicated 2.5D structures, as the power required for the laser modification of materials is lower than that required for laser ablation. Furthermore, the surface roughness defined by the root‐mean‐square improved by an order of magnitude because of the flat interfaces of laser‐modified regions and untreated areas as well as accurate control during the dry‐etching process. As the dry‐etching system is compatible with the IC fabrication process, the DE‐FsLM technology shows great potential for application in the device integration processing industry.

     

光学元件亚表面缺陷结构的蚀刻消除

 针对强激光光学元件的应用要求，对光学材料在研磨和抛光过程中形成的亚表面缺陷进行了分析，并借鉴小工具数控抛光和Marangoni界面效应，提出采用数控化学刻蚀技术来实现光学表面面形和微结构形貌的高精度加工，对亚表面缺陷具有很好的克服和消除作用。通过实验对亚表面缺陷的分布位置和特性进行了分析，同时实验验证了在静止和移动条件下Marangoni界面效应的存在，对材料的定量去除进行了实验，提出了亚表面缺陷的去除方法。     

Lift‐off protocols for thin films for use in EXAFS experiments

Lift‐off protocols for thin films for improved extended X‐ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements are presented. Using wet chemical etching of the substrate or the interlayer between the thin film and the substrate, stand‐alone high‐quality micrometer‐thin films are obtained. Protocols for the single‐crystalline semiconductors GeSi, InGaAs, InGaP, InP and GaAs, the amorphous semiconductors GaAs, GeSi and InP and the dielectric materials SiO₂ and Si₃N₄ are presented. The removal of the substrate and the ability to stack the thin films yield benefits for EXAFS experiments in transmission as well as in fluorescence mode. Several cases are presented where this improved sample preparation procedure results in higher‐quality EXAFS data compared with conventional sample preparation methods. This lift‐off procedure can also be advantageous for other experimental techniques (e.g. small‐angle X‐ray scattering) that benefit from removing undesired contributions from the substrate.     

一种简单高效的制备硅纳米孔阵结构的方法

本文介绍了一种简单高效的制备硅纳米孔阵结构的方法. 利用激光干涉光刻技术, 结合干法和湿法刻蚀工艺, 直接将光刻胶点阵刻蚀为硅纳米孔阵结构, 省去了图形反转工艺中的金属蒸镀和光刻胶剥离等必要步骤, 在2英寸的硅 (001) 衬底上制备了高度有序的二维纳米孔阵结构. 利用干法刻蚀产生的氟碳有机聚合物作为湿法刻蚀的掩膜, 以及在干法刻蚀时对样品进行轻微的过刻蚀, 使SiO₂点阵图形下形成一层很薄的硅台面, 是本方法的两个关键工艺步骤. 扫描电子显微镜图片结果表明制备的孔阵图形大小均匀, 尺寸可控, 孔阵周期为450 nm, 方孔大小为200–280 nm. 关键词： 激光干涉光刻 纳米阵列 刻蚀 氟碳有机聚合物     

Study on sapphire removal for thin-film LEDs fabrication using CMP and dry etching

Mechanical grinding, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) and dry etching process are integrated to remove sapphire substrate for fabricating thin-film light-emitting diodes. The thinning of sapphire substrate is done by fast mechanical grinding followed by CMP. The CMP can remove or reduce most of the scratches produced by mechanical grinding, recovering both the mechanical strength and wafer warpage to their original status and resulting in a smoother surface. The surface morphology and surface roughness on grinded and polished sapphire substrate are measured by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The etch rates of sapphire by BCl₃-based dry etching are reported. Pattern transfer to the physical and chemical stability of sapphire is made possible by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etch system that generates high density plasma. The patterning of several microns period in sapphire wafer by using a combination of BCl₃/Ar plasma chemistry and SiO₂ mask is presented. The anisotropic etch profile formed on sapphire wafer is obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images.     

Microstructure array on Si and SiOx generated by micro-contact printing, wet chemical etching and reactive ion etching

A method, combining micro-contact printing (μCP), wet chemical etching and reactive ion etching (RIE), is reported to fabricate microstructures on Si and SiOx. Positive and negative structures were generated based on different stamps used for μCP. The reproducibility of the obtained microstructures shows the methodology reported herein could be useful in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), optical and biological sensing applications.     

Metal‐assisted chemical etching of CIGS thin films for grain size analysis

Grain size of the CIGS absorber is an important monitoring factor in the CIGS solar cell manufacturing. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis is commonly used to perform CIGS grain size analysis in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Although direct quantification on SEM image using the average grain intercept (AGI) method is faster and simpler than EBSD, it is hardly applicable on CIGS thin films. The challenge is that, not like polycrystalline silicon, to define grain boundaries by selective chemical etching is not easily realizable for the multi‐component CIGS alloy. In this Letter, we present direct quantification of CIGS thin film grain size using the AGI method by developing metal‐assisted wet chemical etching process to define CIGS grain boundaries. The calculated value is similar to EBSD result.

The CIGS thin film surface morphology before and after the wet chemical etching. Grain boundaries are well defined after the processing.     

样品温度对CF3+ 与Si表面相互作用影响的分子动力学模拟

利用分子动力学模拟方法研究了不同温度下CF_x层对CF⁺₃刻蚀Si表面过程的影响.由模拟数据可知,温度对C和F的沉积有显著的影响,通过提高样品的温度,物理刻蚀得到了加强,而化学刻蚀被减弱.同时,随着温度的升高,Si的刻蚀率相应增加.刻蚀产物中的SiF,SiF₂的量随温度的增加而增加,SiF₃的量与基体温度没有直接的关系.Si刻蚀率的增加主要是通过提高SiF,SiF_{2相似文献}   

Effects of ultrasonic agitation and surfactant additive on surface roughness of Si (1 1 1) crystal plane in alkaline KOH solution

In the silicon wet etching process, the “pseudo-mask” formed by the hydrogen bubbles generated during the etching process is the reason causing high surface roughness and poor surface quality. Based upon the ultrasonic mechanical effect and wettability enhanced by isopropyl alcohol (IPA), ultrasonic agitation and IPA were used to improve surface quality of Si (1 1 1) crystal plane during silicon wet etching process. The surface roughness R_q is smaller than 15 nm when using ultrasonic agitation and R_q is smaller than 7 nm when using IPA. When the range of IPA concentration (mass fraction, wt%) is 5–20%, the ultrasonic frequency is 100 kHz and the ultrasound intensity is 30–50 W/L, the surface roughness R_q is smaller than 2 nm when combining ultrasonic agitation and IPA. The surface roughness R_q is equal to 1 nm when the mass fraction of IPA, ultrasound intensity and the ultrasonic frequency is 20%, 50 W and 100 kHz respectively. The experimental results indicated that the combination of ultrasonic agitation and IPA could obtain a lower surface roughness of Si (1 1 1) crystal plane in silicon wet etching process.     

Photonic nanostructures for advanced light trapping in silicon solar cells: the impact of etching on the material electronic quality

Dry plasma etching, commonly used by the Photonics community as the etching technique for the fabrication of photonic nanostructures, could be a source of device performance limitations when used in the frame of silicon photovoltaics. So far, the lack of silicon solar cells with state‐of‐the‐art efficiencies utilizing nanophotonic concepts shows how challenging their integration is, owing to the trade‐off between optical and electrical properties. In this study we show that dry plasma etching results in the degradation of the silicon material quality due to (i) a high density of dangling bonds and (ii) the presence of sub‐surface defects, resulting in high surface recombination velocities and low minority carrier lifetimes. On the contrary, wet chemical anisotropic etching used as an alternative, leads to the formation of inverted nanopyramids that result in low surface recombination velocity and low density of dangling bonds. The proposed inverted nanopyramids could enable high efficiency photonic assisted solar cells by offering the potential to achieve higher short‐circuit current without degrading the open circuit voltage. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Selective growth of GaAs quantum dots and vertical quantum wires in two-dimensional V-grooves

We propose and demonstrate a novel technique for the fabrication of quantum dot (QD) structures using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The GaAs quantum dots are grown at the bottom of the two-dimensional V-groove (2DVG) structures which are composed of (1 1 1)A and (1 1 1)B-facets on GaAs(1 0 0). The 2DVG is formed by MOCVD selective growth on a SiO₂ patterned substrate. It should be noted that the 2DVGs cannot be formed by a chemical wet etching technique because the facet's anisotropy of etching ratios are different. By changing the growth condition, we can obtain GaAs QD structures which have a size of less than 10 nm, and vertical GaAs quantum wires (V-QWRs) in 2DVGs. We have observed photoluminescence from each structure. We have also demonstrated stacking of GaAs QDs in the 2DVG on GaAs (1 0 0).     

低能Cl原子刻蚀Si(100)表面的分子动力学模拟

使用分子动力学模拟方法研究了不同能量(0.3—10 eV)的Cl原子对表面温度为300 K的Si(100)表面的刻蚀过程.模拟中采用了Tersoff-Brenner势能函数来描述Cl-Si体系的相互作用.模拟结果显示,随着入射Cl原子在表面的吸附达到饱和,Si表面形成一层富Cl反应层.这和实验结果是一致的.反应层厚度随入射能量增加而增加.反应层中主要化合物类型为SiCl,且主要分布于反应层底部.模拟结果发现随初始入射能量的增加,Si的刻蚀率增大.在入射能量为0.3,1和5 eV时,主要的Si刻蚀产物为Si 关键词： 分子动力学 Cl刻蚀Si 分子动力学模拟 微电子机械系统     

太阳电池中新腐蚀液实现纳米黑硅表面的一步腐蚀制备

通过引入添加剂,调节腐蚀溶液的pH值,实现了一步法制备黑硅表面. 在取得低表面反射率的同时,减小了黑硅层的腐蚀深度,对于16 min腐蚀的黑硅层,其表面加权平均反射率可达5%(300～1200 nm),但腐蚀深仅约为200 nm. 减小腐蚀深度能够降低黑硅太阳电池的表面复合速率,从而提高太阳电池性能,尤其是开路电压及填充因子. 以新腐蚀液制备的黑硅为衬底,在常规太阳电池产线上制备大面积p-Si黑硅太阳电池,实现了15.63%的转换效率,具有高的开路电压(624.32 mV)和填充因子(77.88%),改进了大面积黑硅太阳电池的性能.     

Anisotropic piezoeffect in microelectromechanical systems based on epitaxial Al<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Ga<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>As/AlAs heterostructures

A microelectromechanical system is created that has the form of a cantilever-fitted microbar with a cross-sectional area of several square micrometers. The system is formed by applying epitaxial AlGaAs layers on the GaAs(001) surface and selective chemical etching of the AlAs layer lying under the bar. Two micro-cantilevers that are made on the same GaAs(001) wafer and directed along the [110] and [1$ \bar 1 $ \bar 1 0] orthogonal diagonal axes are studied. The static and dynamic characteristics of the systems are studied by white light optical interferometry. The deflection of the bars as a function of the applied voltage is measured in the static mode. An opposite shift of orthogonal microcantilevers on which the same voltage is applied is considered as direct evidence of the efficiency of a piezoeffect-based microengine. The calculated parameters of the micro-electromechanical system, the sensitivity and eigenfrequency, are in good agreement with the measurements.     

Three‐dimensional femtosecond laser micromachining of photosensitive glass for biomicrochips

Internal modification of transparent materials such as glass can be carried out using multiphoton absorption induced by a femtosecond (fs) laser. The fs‐laser modification followed by thermal treatment and successive chemical wet etching in a hydrofluoric (HF) acid solution forms three‐dimensional (3D) hollow microstructures embedded in photosensitive glass. This technique is a powerful method for directly fabricating 3D microfluidic structures inside a photosensitive glass microchip. We used fabricated microchips, referred to as a nanoaquarium, for dynamic observations of living microorganisms. In addition, the present technique can also be used to form microoptical components such as micromirrors and microlenses inside the photosensitive glass, since the fabricated structures have optically flat surfaces. The integration of microfluidics and microoptical components in a single glass chip yields biophotonic microchips, in other words, optofluidics, which provide high sensitivity in absorption and fluorescence measurements of small volumes of liquid samples.     

Substrate‐Induced Synthesis of Nitrogen‐Doped Holey Graphene Nanocapsules for Advanced Metal‐Free Bifunctional Electrocatalysts

The development of efficient metal‐free electrocatalysts for oxygen electrocatalysis is of great significance for various energy conversion devices. Herein, novel nitrogen‐doped holey graphene nanocapsules (NHGNs) are reported prepared by self‐assembly of graphene oxide nanosheets on the surface of amino‐functionalized silica template and NH₃ activation with simultaneously enhanced nitrogen doping and etching of nanopores in graphene, followed by template etching. The silica template is demonstrated to show a substrate‐enhanced effect on nitrogen doping and etching of nanopores in graphene based on density functional theory calculations. Benefiting from the large surface area, unique pore distribution, and high surface functionality of nitrogen doping, the resulting NHGNs exhibit superior bifunctional electrocatalytic activity and durability for both oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, which is similar to that of the commercial Pt/C and RuO₂ electrocatalysts, respectively. This work presents an advance in developing new nitrogen‐doped graphene species for highly efficient metal‐free electrocatalysis.