Self-aligned nanostructures created by swift heavy ion irradiation

Journal Article · Sat May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3354093· OSTI ID:21476192

Gehrke, Hans-Gregor; Nix, Anne-Katrin; Hofsaess, Hans ^[1]; Krauser, Johann ^[2]; Trautmann, Christina ^[3]; Weidinger, Alois ^[4]

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1. 2. Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Goettingen, Friedrich-Hundplatz 1, D-37077 Goettingen (Germany)
2. Hochschule Harz, Friedrichstrasse 57-59, D-38855 Wernigerode (Germany)
3. GSI Helmholzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung, Planckstr. 1, D-64291 Darmstadt (Germany)
4. Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fuer Materialien und Energie, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin (Germany)

In tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) swift heavy ions create conducting tracks of about 8 nm in diameter. To apply these nanowires and implement them into nanodevices, they have to be contacted and gated. In the present work, we demonstrate the fabrication of conducting vertical nanostructures in ta-C together with self-aligned gate electrodes. A multilayer assembly is irradiated with GeV heavy ions and subsequently exposed to several selective etching processes. The samples consist of a Si wafer as substrate covered by a thin ta-C layer. On top is deposited a SiN{sub x} film for insulation, a Cr layer as electrode, and finally a polycarbonate film as ion track template. Chemical track etching opens nanochannels in the polymer which are self-aligned with the conducting tracks in ta-C because they are produced by the same ions. Through the pores in the polymer template, the Cr and SiN{sub x} layers are opened by ion beam sputtering and plasma etching, respectively. The resulting structure consists of nanowires embedded in the insulating carbon matrix with a built in gate electrode and has potential application as gated field emission cathode.

• OSTI ID: 21476192
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 107; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
AMORPHOUS STATE
BEAMS
CARBON
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CHARGED PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
EMISSION
ENERGY RANGE
ETCHING
FABRICATION
FIELD EMISSION
GEV RANGE
HEAVY IONS
ION BEAMS
IONS
IRRADIATION
LAYERS
MATERIALS
MATRIX MATERIALS
NANOSTRUCTURES
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PLASMA
PNICTIDES
POLYCARBONATES
POLYMERS
QUANTUM WIRES
RADIATION EFFECTS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON NITRIDES
SPUTTERING
SUBSTRATES
SURFACE FINISHING