Fabrication and characterization of Si nanotip arrays for Si-based nano-devices

A simple and efficient technique for fabricating two-dimensional arrays of silicon nanotips by using electron beam lithography (EBL) and reactive ion etching (RIE) was reported. For the RIE processes, two kind of reactive gases, CHF3 and SF6, were used as plasma etching source for Si. The experiment results indicate that the reactive ion etching mechanism is different: the isotropic process for SF6 and anisotropic for CHF3. It is found that the mixed O-2/SF6 plasma etching can improve the properties of profile and surface of Si nanotips. Under the condition of ratio similar to 15%, the 10 nm top size of Si nanotips was obtained.