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P. D. Tran

Bio: P. D. Tran is an academic researcher from University of South Australia. The author has contributed to research in topics: Etching (microfabrication) & Photolithography. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 2 citations.

Papers
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Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Aug 2013
TL;DR: In this article, a robust wafer-scale top-down process for the fabrication of locally thinned-downed silicon nanowire (SiNW) devices is presented.
Abstract: We present a robust wafer-scale top-down process for the fabrication of locally thinned-downed silicon nanowire (SiNW) devices. The fabrication is based on electron-beam lithography in combination with a two-step tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) wet etch. We optimized the etching profile of the TMAH process on silicon-on-insulator using isopropanol additive and temperature regulation, yielding very low and controllable etching rates and enabling the formation of ultra-smooth silicon morphology. The optimized TMAH etching process was confined using photolithography to the middle sections of silicon nanowire channels to achieve localized step-etching of the nanowires. The thinned silicon nanowires were addressed via metal contact lines in the final step of the fabrication. Preliminary current-voltage characterization in liquid demonstrated a p-channel field effect transistor behavior in depletion mode with a very high output current and negligible contact resistance. The proposed process provides an alternative route for reliable and reproducible fabrication of ultra-thin silicon nanowire devices.

2 citations


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a CMOS compatible sidewall mask technology (SMT) was proposed for top-down fabrication of SiNWs and a highly sensitive pH sensor based on SiNW FETs.
Abstract: Silicon nanowire (SiNW) field-effect transistors (FETs) have been developed as various bio/chemical sensors due to their high sensitivity as a result of the huge surface-to-volume ratios. This paper presents a CMOS compatible sidewall mask technology (SMT) for top-down fabrication of SiNWs and a highly sensitive pH sensor based on SiNW FETs. The essence of SMT is to use stand-alone vertical sidewalls of a conformal thin film, fabricated by anisotropically etching away the planar part of the thin film deposited on a thin mesa, as hard masks for SiNW etching. As the feature size of the sidewalls, depending on the film thickness rather than lithography, can be controlled readily to tens to hundreds of nanometers by tailoring the film thickness, SMT allows high output and low cost fabrication of SiNWs without need of advanced lithography facilities. Complete SMT processes have been developed for fabrication of SiNW FETs, and pH sensors using SiNW FETs have been realized. Measurement results show that the pH sensors have good static characteristics and transient performance, and the sensitivity reaches 54.5 mV/pH for a wide range of pH values from 1 to 12, approaching the theoretical Nernstian limit.

33 citations