MASKLESS PATTERNING OF SILICON SURFACE-BASED ON SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE TIP-INDUCED ANODIZATION AND CHEMICAL ETCHING

A microprocessing method for silicon (Si) without photolithography is proposed. The method consists of only two processes. Hydrogen-terminat ed Si surfaces (Si-H) were first locally anodized using scanning tunne ling microscopy (STM). The non-anodized surfaces were then etched chem ically in potassium hydroxide solution. The anodic oxide produced with the first process performed as an etching mask. The height of the etc hed pattern of approximately 50 nm was much larger than the thickness of the anodic oxide. Humidity effect on STM tip-induced anodization of Si-H is also shown. The area of the anodization was enlarged with inc reasing humidity, and the spatial resolution became worse.