Nanostructuring of silicon (100) using electron beam rapid thermal annealing

Abstract

Effect of crystal orientation on self-assembled silicon nanostructures formed by electron-beam annealing J. Appl. Phys. 97, 094301 (2005); 10.1063/1.1877819Incorporation of manganese into semiconducting ScN using radio frequency molecular beam epitaxy A technique for the rapid, uncomplicated and lithography free fabrication of silicon nanostructures on both n-type and p-type Si͑100͒ substrates is presented. The nanofabrication method employs electron beam rapid thermal annealing of Si͑100͒ substrates which have undergone no prior processing and thus still contain the native oxide. The resulting nanostructures are distributed across the entire Si surface and are square based and aligned to the ͓110͔ direction. Nanostructure growth was only observed in the temperature range 800-1200°C and has been shown to occur following annealing durations as short as 3 s. Nanopillars over 20 nm high have been fabricated following annealing for 120 s. The initial stage of nanostructure growth involves thermal decomposition of the native oxide resulting in atomic scale disorder of the Si surface. Following complete oxide desorption, diffusive Si species migrate across the surface in response to diffusion barriers established on the strained potential-energy surface, nucleating islands at kinetically favored sites. With continued annealing the island number and size evolves according to crystal ripening processes. Enhancement of the oxide desorption and crystal growth rates due to electron irradiation are discussed.

Universal characteristics of resonant-tunneling field emission from nanostructured surfaces

“…Details of the fabrication procedure and mechanism for nanostructure growth have been reported elsewhere. 20 A characteristic AFM image of the nanostructured Si substrate surface is shown in Fig. 2.…”

Nanostructuring at the surface of low‐energy lead‐implanted silicon by electron beam annealing

“…Si nanostructures generated by the fast out-diffusion of Pb atoms during annealing creating a highly disturbed Si surface on which Si nanostructures form during the electron beam bombardment similar to the processes described in Refs [1][2][3]. The normalised plot of depth profiles of Pb shown in Fig.…”

Field Emission from Silicon Implanted with Carbon and Nitrogen Followed by Electron Beam Annealing

“…Figure 2a shows an AFM image of the silicon surface following the first electron beam annealing step (1000°C for 15 s). As demonstrated by Johnson et al, 6 this rapid annealing treatment results in self-assembly of silicon nanostructures across the entire surface. Using these annealing conditions, the nanostructures are typically 4 nm to 15 nm high at a density of 10/lm 2 to 15/lm 2 across the surface.…”

“…Other than clearance of loose surface debris no other surface cleaning treatments were performed. The first step of the process was the creation of silicon surface nanostructures following the procedure of Johnson et al 6 Briefly, annealing of the samples was performed using an electron beam annealing system, at 1000°C for 15 s. The rate of heating or cooling in the annealing cycle was set at 5°C/s. An electron beam, with energy of 20 keV, was raster-scanned (at frequencies of 1 kHz and 10 kHz in orthogonal directions) over the sample surface with a beam current typically up to 4 mA.…”

“…After complete decomposition of the native oxide, diffusive silicon migrates across the surface, nucleating as islands at kinetically favored sites. Further details of the growth mechanism can be found in Johnson et al 6 We report herein a field-emitting cathode based on the SiCN material system produced using ion implantation of carbon and nitrogen into wafer silicon followed by electron beam annealing. The resulting surface nanostructures are observed to be of comparable shape and distribution to the silicononly nanostructures.…”