Formation mechanism of SiGe nanorod arrays by combining nanosphere lithography and Au-assisted chemical etching

Chih Chung Lai, Yun Ju Lee, Ping Hung Yeh, Sheng Wei Lee

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6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The formation mechanism of SiGe nanorod (NR) arrays fabricated by combining nanosphere lithography and Au-assisted chemical etching has been investigated. By precisely controlling the etching rate and time, the lengths of SiGe NRs can be tuned from 300 nm to 1 μm. The morphologies of SiGe NRs were found to change dramatically by varying the etching temperatures. We propose a mechanism involving a locally temperature-sensitive redox reaction to explain this strong temperature dependence of the morphologies of SiGe NRs. At a lower etching temperature, both corrosion reaction and Au-assisted etching process were kinetically impeded, whereas at a higher temperature, Au-assisted anisotropic etching dominated the formation of SiGe NRs. With transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses, this study provides a beneficial scheme to design and fabricate low-dimensional SiGe-based nanostructures for possible applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number140
JournalNanoscale Research Letters
Volume7
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012

Keywords

  • Ge
  • Nanorod
  • Nanosphere lithography
  • Self-assembly

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