Electric double layer effect in a nano-scale SiO₂ sacrificial layer etching process and its application in nanowire fabrication

Process controllability has become one of the key factors for utilizing micro-scale processes in nanofabrication. Sacrificial layer technology especially should be carefully handled to avoid excessive etching of nano-scale device structures. In this work, the etching behavior of a buffered HF (BHF) solution for thermally-grown silicon dioxide sacrificial layers with thicknesses in the range of 22 to 112.7 nm was characterized. For the first time, accelerated limiting of etching was reported for sub-50 nm layers. However, for thicker ones (more than 50 nm), almost constant rate isotropic etching was observed. A detailed discussion revealed that the conventional diffusion-induced etching model was no longer valid in such a minute structure, and the electric double layer (EDL) effect instead, was likely to dominate. Simulation was carried out to investigate the influence of the electric potential generated by an interfacial charge layer upon reactive ions in the etchant, which was proved to be consistent with the experimental results. By using such nano-scale sacrificial layer technology, combined with anisotropic silicon etching, cost-effective and stable production of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) was accomplished, with a uniform width down to 100 nm, respectively. Reliable electrical connection was also achieved by smooth transitions from the nanowire to single crystal silicon electrodes, which further confirmed the potential of this highly controllable process.