No Arabic abstract
A digital etching method was proposed to achieve excellent control of etching depth. The digital etching characteristics of p+ Si and Si0.7Ge0.3 using the combinations of HNO3 oxidation and BOE oxide removal processes were studied. Experiments showed that oxidation saturates with time due to low activation energy. A physical model was presented to describe the wet oxidation process with nitric acid. The model was calibrated with experimental data and the oxidation saturation time, final oxide thickness, and selectivity between Si0.7Ge0.3 and p+ Si were obtained. The digital etch of laminated Si0.7Ge0.3/p+ Si was also investigated. The depth of the tunnels formed by etching SiGe layers between two Si layers was found in proportion to digital etching cycles. And oxidation would also saturate and the saturated relative etched amount per cycle (REPC) was 0.5 nm (4 monolayers). A corrected selectivity calculation formula was presented. The oxidation model was also calibrated with Si0.7Ge0.3/p+ Si stacks, and selectivity from model was the same with the corrected formula. The model can also be used to analyze process variations and repeatability. And it could act as a guidance for experiment design. Selectivity and repeatability should make a trade-off.
Two-dimensional carbides and nitrides of transition metals, known as MXenes, are a fast-growing family of 2D materials that draw attention as energy storage materials. So far, MXenes are mainly prepared from Al-containing MAX phases (where A = Al) by Al dissolution in F-containing solution, but most other MAX phases have not been explored. Here, a redox-controlled A-site-etching of MAX phases in Lewis acidic melts is proposed and validated by the synthesis of various MXenes from unconventional MAX phase precursors with A elements Si, Zn, and Ga. A negative electrode of Ti3C2 MXene material obtained through this molten salt synthesis method delivers a Li+ storage capacity up to 738 C g-1 (205 mAh g-1) with high-rate performance and pseudocapacitive-like electrochemical signature in 1M LiPF6 carbonate-based electrolyte. MXene prepared from this molten salt synthesis route offer opportunities as high-rate negative electrode material for electrochemical energy storage applications.
In this work we report new silicon and germanium tubular nanostructures with no corresponding stable carbon analogues. The electronic and mechanical properties of these new tubes were investigated through ab initio methods. Our results show that the structures have lower energy than their corresponding nanoribbon structures and are stable up to high temperatures (500 and 1000 K, for silicon and germanium tubes, respectively). Both tubes are semiconducting with small indirect band gaps, which can be significantly altered by both compressive and tensile strains. Large bandgap variations of almost 50% were observed for strain rates as small as 3%, suggesting possible applications in sensor devices. They also present high Youngs modulus values (0.25 and 0.15 TPa, respectively). TEM images were simulated to help the identification of these new structures.
The lifting of the two-fold degeneracy of the conduction valleys in a strained silicon quantum well is critical for spin quantum computing. Here, we obtain an accurate measurement of the splitting of the valley states in the low-field region of interest, using the microwave spectroscopy technique of electron valley resonance (EVR). We compare our results with conventional methods, observing a linear magnetic field dependence of the valley splitting, and a strong low-field suppression, consistent with recent theory. The resonance linewidth shows a marked enhancement above $Tsimeq 300$ mK.
Despite the fact that the resolution of conventional contact/proximity lithography can reach feature sizes down to ~0.5-0.6 micrometers, the accurate control of the linewidth and uniformity becomes already very challenging for gratings with periods in the range of 1-2 {mu}m. This is particularly relevant for the exposure of large areas and wafers thinner than 300{mu}m. If the wafer or mask surface is not fully flat due to any kind of defects, such as bowing/warpage or remaining topography of the surface in case of overlay exposures, noticeable linewidth variations or complete failure of lithography step will occur. We utilized the newly developed Displacement Talbot lithography to pattern gratings with equal lines and spaces and periods in the range of 1.0 to 2.4 {mu}m. The exposures in this lithography process do not require contact between the mask and the wafer, which makes it essentially insensitive to surface planarity and enables exposures with very high linewidth uniformity on thin and even slightly deformed wafers. We demonstrated pattern transfer of such exposures into Si substrates by reactive ion etching using the Bosch process. An etching depth of 30 {mu}m or more for the whole range of periods was achieved, which corresponds to very high aspect ratios up to 60:1. The application of the fabricated gratings in phase contrast x-ray imaging is presented.
In this work authors present for the first time how to apply the additive-free, cured PDMS as a negative tone resist material, demonstrate the creation of PDMS microstructures and test the solvent resistivity of the created microstructures. The PDMS layers were 45 um and 100 um thick, the irradiations were done with a focused proton microbeam with various fluences. After irradiation, the samples were etched with sulfuric acid that removed the unirradiated PDMS completely but left those structures intact that received high enough fluences. The etching rate of the unirradiated PDMS was also determined. Those structures that received at least 7.5*10^15 ion*cm-2 fluence did not show any signs of degradation even after 19 hours of etching. As a demonstration, 45 um and 100 um tall, high aspect ratio, good quality, undistorted microstructures were created with smooth and vertical sidewalls. The created microstructures were immersed into numerous solvents and some acids to test their compatibility. It was found that the unirradiated PDMS cannot, while the irradiated PDMS microstructures can resist to chloroform, n-hexane, toluene and sulfuric acid. Hydrogen fluoride etches both the unirradiated and the irradiated PDMS.