Guo Jian, Song Chenfei, Li Xiaoying, Yu Bingjun, Dong Hanshan, Qian Linmao, Zhou Zhongrong
Tribology Research Institute, National Traction Power Laboratory, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, 610031, People's Republic of China.
Nanoscale Res Lett. 2012 Feb 23;7(1):152. doi: 10.1186/1556-276X-7-152.
As a maskless nanofabrication technique, friction-induced selective etching can easily produce nanopatterns on a Si(100) surface. Experimental results indicated that the height of the nanopatterns increased with the KOH etching time, while their width increased with the scratching load. It has also found that a contact pressure of 6.3 GPa is enough to fabricate a mask layer on the Si(100) surface. To understand the mechanism involved, the cross-sectional microstructure of a scratched area was examined, and the mask ability of the tip-disturbed silicon layer was studied. Transmission electron microscope observation and scanning Auger nanoprobe analysis suggested that the scratched area was covered by a thin superficial oxidation layer followed by a thick distorted (amorphous and deformed) layer in the subsurface. After the surface oxidation layer was removed by HF etching, the residual amorphous and deformed silicon layer on the scratched area can still serve as an etching mask in KOH solution. The results may help to develop a low-destructive, low-cost, and flexible nanofabrication technique suitable for machining of micro-mold and prototype fabrication in micro-systems.
作为一种无掩膜纳米制造技术，摩擦诱导选择性蚀刻能够轻松地在Si(100)表面产生纳米图案。实验结果表明，纳米图案的高度随KOH蚀刻时间增加，而其宽度随划痕载荷增加。还发现6.3 GPa的接触压力足以在Si(100)表面制造掩膜层。为了解其中涉及的机制，对划痕区域的横截面微观结构进行了检查，并研究了尖端扰动硅层的掩膜能力。透射电子显微镜观察和扫描俄歇纳米探针分析表明，划痕区域被一层薄的表面氧化层覆盖，随后在次表面有一层厚的畸变（非晶态和变形）层。在用HF蚀刻去除表面氧化层后，划痕区域上残留的非晶态和变形硅层在KOH溶液中仍可作为蚀刻掩膜。这些结果可能有助于开发一种低损伤、低成本且灵活的纳米制造技术，适用于微系统中的微模具加工和原型制造。
