Templated dewetting of single-crystal sub-millimeter-long nanowires and on-chip silicon circuits
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Large-scale, defect-free, micro- and nano-circuits with controlled inter-connections represent the nexus between electronic and photonic components. However, their fabrication over large scales often requires demanding procedures that are hardly scalable. Here we synthesize arrays of parallel ultra-long (up to 0.75 mm), monocrystalline, silicon-based nano-wires and complex, connected circuits exploiting low-resolution etching and annealing of thin silicon films on insulator. Phase field simulations reveal that crystal faceting and stabilization of the wires against breaking is due to surface energy anisotropy. Wires splitting, inter-connections and direction are independently managed by engineering the dewetting fronts and exploiting the spontaneous formation of kinks. Finally, we fabricate field-effect transistors with state-of-the-art trans-conductance and electron mobility. Beyond the first experimental evidence of controlled dewetting of patches featuring a record aspect ratio of similar to 1/60000 and self-assembled similar to mm long nano-wires, our method constitutes a distinct and promising approach for the deterministic implementation of atomically-smooth, mono-crystalline electronic and photonic circuits.
Details
Original language | English |
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Article number | 5632 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Nature communications |
Volume | 10 |
Publication status | Published - 10 Dec 2019 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
Externally published | Yes |
External IDs
Scopus | 85076404860 |
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ORCID | /0000-0002-4217-0951/work/142237406 |
Keywords
Keywords
- PHASE-FIELD MODEL, CAPILLARY INSTABILITIES, THIN-FILMS, SURFACE, PERFORMANCE, GROWTH, NANOSTRUCTURES, EQUILIBRIUM, EVOLUTION, CHANNELS