A process for the growth, transfer and fabrication of silicene field-effect transistors enables devices that have mobility of about 100 cm2  V−1  s–1.

Silicene field-effect transistors operating at room temperature

Photovoltaic technology requires light-absorbing materials that are highly efficient, lightweight, low cost and stable during operation. Organolead halide perovskites constitute a highly promising class of materials, but suffer limited stability under ambient conditions without heavy and costly encapsulation. Here, we report ultrathin (3 μm), highly flexible perovskite solar cells with stabilized 12% efficiency and a power-per-weight as high as 23 W g(-1). To facilitate air-stable operation, we introduce a chromium oxide-chromium interlayer that effectively protects the metal top contacts from reactions with the perovskite. The use of a transparent polymer electrode treated with dimethylsulphoxide as the bottom layer allows the deposition-from solution at low temperature-of pinhole-free perovskite films at high yield on arbitrary substrates, including thin plastic foils. These ultra-lightweight solar cells are successfully used to power aviation models. Potential future applications include unmanned aerial vehicles-from airplanes to quadcopters and weather balloons-for environmental and industrial monitoring, rescue and emergency response, and tactical security applications.

Flexible high power-per-weight perovskite solar cells with chromium oxide–metal contacts for improved stability in air

The modification of surfaces by the deposition of a robust overlayer provides an excellent handle with which to tune the properties of a bulk substrate to those of interest. Such control over the surface properties becomes increasingly important with the continuing efforts at down-sizing the active components in optoelectronic devices, and the corresponding increase in the surface area/volume ratio. Relevant properties to tune include the degree to which a surface is wetted by water or oil. Analogously, for biosensing applications there is an increasing interest in so-called “romantic surfaces”: surfaces that repel all biological entities, apart from one, to which it binds strongly. Such systems require both long lasting and highly specific tuning of the surface properties. This Review presents one approach to obtain robust surface modifications of the surface of oxides, namely the covalent attachment of monolayers.

Covalent surface modification of oxide surfaces.

The field of plasma etching is reviewed. Plasma etching, a revolutionary extension of the technique of physical sputtering, was introduced to integrated circuit manufacturing as early as the mid 1960s and more widely in the early 1970s, in an effort to reduce liquid waste disposal in manufacturing and achieve selectivities that were difficult to obtain with wet chemistry. Quickly, the ability to anisotropically etch silicon, aluminum, and silicon dioxide in plasmas became the breakthrough that allowed the features in integrated circuits to continue to shrink over the next 40 years. Some of this early history is reviewed, and a discussion of the evolution in plasma reactor design is included. Some basic principles related to plasma etching such as evaporation rates and Langmuir–Hinshelwood adsorption are introduced. Etching mechanisms of selected materials, silicon, silicon dioxide, and low dielectric-constant materials are discussed in detail. A detailed treatment is presented of applications in current silicon integrated circuit fabrication. Finally, some predictions are offered for future needs and advances in plasma etching for silicon and nonsilicon-based devices.

/pdf/plasma-etching-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow-4a8eftp390.pdf

Plasma etching: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow

The field of cantilever-based sensing emerged in the mid-1990s and is today a well-known technology for label-free sensing which holds promise as a technique for cheap, portable, sensitive and highly parallel analysis systems. The research in sensor realization as well as sensor applications has increased significantly over the past 10 years. In this review we will present the basic modes of operation in cantilever-like micromechanical sensors and discuss optical and electrical means for signal transduction. The fundamental processes for realizing miniaturized cantilevers are described with focus on silicon- and polymer-based technologies. Examples of recent sensor applications are given covering such diverse fields as drug discovery, food diagnostics, material characterizations and explosives detection.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0034-4885/74/3/036101/pdf

Cantilever-like micromechanical sensors

Samples of 53 materials that are used or potentially can be used or in the fabrication of microelectromechanical systems and integrated circuits were prepared: single-crystal silicon with two doping levels, polycrystalline silicon with two doping levels, polycrystalline germanium, polycrystalline SiGe, graphite, fused quartz, Pyrex 7740, nine other preparations of silicon dioxide, four preparations of silicon nitride, sapphire, two preparations of aluminum oxide, aluminum, Al/2%Si, titanium, vanadium, niobium, two preparations of tantalum, two preparations of chromium, Cr on Au, molybdenum, tungsten, nickel, palladium, platinum, copper, silver, gold, 10 Ti/90 W, 80 Ni/20 Cr, TiN, four types of photoresist, resist pen, Parylene-C, and spin-on polyimide. Selected samples were etched in 35 different etches: isotropic silicon etchant, potassium hydroxide, 10:1 HF, 5:1 BHF, Pad Etch 4, hot phosphoric acid, Aluminum Etchant Type A, titanium wet etchant, CR-7 chromium etchant, CR-14 chromium etchant, molybdenum etchant, warm hydrogen peroxide, Copper Etchant Type CE-200, Copper Etchant APS 100, dilute aqua regia, AU-5 gold etchant, Nichrome Etchant TFN, hot sulfuric+phosphoric acids, Piranha, Microstrip 2001, acetone, methanol, isopropanol, xenon difluoride, HF+H/sub 2/O vapor, oxygen plasma, two deep reactive ion etch recipes with two different types of wafer clamping, SF/sub 6/ plasma, SF/sub 6/+O/sub 2/ plasma, CF/sub 4/ plasma, CF/sub 4/+O/sub 2/ plasma, and argon ion milling. The etch rates of 620 combinations of these were measured. The etch rates of thermal oxide in different dilutions of HF and BHF are also reported. Sample preparation and information about the etches is given.

/pdf/etch-rates-for-micromachining-processing-part-ii-2gdyzs6x1d.pdf

M. Wasilik

Papers

Etch rates for micromachining processing-Part II