Electropolishing Silicon in Hydrofluoric Acid Solutions
01 Jul 1958-Journal of The Electrochemical Society (The Electrochemical Society)-Vol. 105, Iss: 7, pp 402-408
About: This article is published in Journal of The Electrochemical Society.The article was published on 1958-07-01. It has received 597 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Electropolishing & Hydrofluoric acid.
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01 May 1982
TL;DR: This review describes the advantages of employing silicon as a mechanical material, the relevant mechanical characteristics of silicon, and the processing techniques which are specific to micromechanical structures.
Abstract: Single-crystal silicon is being increasingly employed in a variety of new commercial products not because of its well-established electronic properties, but rather because of its excellent mechanical properties. In addition, recent trends in the engineering literature indicate a growing interest in the use of silicon as a mechanical material with the ultimate goal of developing a broad range of inexpensive, batch-fabricated, high-performance sensors and transducers which are easily interfaced with the rapidly proliferating microprocessor. This review describes the advantages of employing silicon as a mechanical material, the relevant mechanical characteristics of silicon, and the processing techniques which are specific to micromechanical structures. Finally, the potentials of this new technology are illustrated by numerous detailed examples from the literature. It is clear that silicon will continue to be aggressively exploited in a wide variety of mechanical applications complementary to its traditional role as an electronic material. Furthermore, these multidisciplinary uses of silicon will significantly alter the way we think about all types of miniature mechanical devices and components.
2,723 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the advantages of employing silicon as a mechanical material, the relevant mechanical characteristics of silicon, and the processing techniques which are specific to micromechanical structures are discussed.
Abstract: Single-crystal silicon is being increasingly employed in a variety of new commercial products not because of its well-established electronic properties, but rather because of its excellent mechanical properties. In addition, recent trends in the engineering literature indicate a growing interest in the use of silicon as a mechanical material with the ultimate goal of developing a broad range of inexpensive, batch-fabricated, high-performance sensors and transducers which are easily interfaced with the rapidly proliferating microprocessor. This review describes the advantages of employing silicon as a mechanical material, the relevant mechanical characteristics of silicon, and the processing techniques which are specific to micromechanical structures. Finally, the potentials of this new technology are illustrated by numerous detailed examples from the literature. It is clear that silicon will continue to be aggressively exploited in a wide variety of mechanical applications complementary to its traditional role as an electronic material. Furthermore, these multidisciplinary uses of silicon will significantly alter the way we think about all types of miniature mechanical devices and components.
2,707 citations
TL;DR: A large amount of work world wide has been directed towards obtaining an understanding of the fundamental characteristics of porous Si as mentioned in this paper, and the key importance of crystalline Si nanostructures in determining the behaviour of porous si is highlighted.
Abstract: A large amount of work world-wide has been directed towards obtaining an understanding of the fundamental characteristics of porous Si. Much progress has been made following the demonstration in 1990 that highly porous material could emit very efficient visible photoluminescence at room temperature. Since that time, all features of the structural, optical and electronic properties of the material have been subjected to in-depth scrutiny. It is the purpose of the present review to survey the work which has been carried out and to detail the level of understanding which has been attained. The key importance of crystalline Si nanostructures in determining the behaviour of porous Si is highlighted. The fabrication of solid-state electroluminescent devices is a prominent goal of many studies and the impressive progress in this area is described.
2,371 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that a two-dimensional quantum confinement (quantum wire) in the very narrow walls between the pores not only explains the change in band gap energy but also may also explain the dissolution mechanism that leads to porous silicon formation.
Abstract: Porous silicon layers grown on nondegenerated p‐type silicon electrodes in hydrofluoric acid electrolytes are translucent for visible light, which is equivalent to an increased band gap compared to bulk silicon. It will be shown that a two‐dimensional quantum confinement (quantum wire) in the very narrow walls between the pores not only explains the change in band‐gap energy but may also be the key to better understanding the dissolution mechanism that leads to porous silicon formation.
1,705 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the structure of the porous layers that emit red light under photoexcitation was revealed, which constitutes direct evidence that highly porous silicon contains quantum-size crystalline structures responsible for the visible emission.
Abstract: LIGHT-emitting devices based on silicon would find many applications in both VLSI and display technologies, but silicon normally emits only extremely weak infrared photoluminescence because of its relatively small and indirect band gap1. The recent demonstration of very efficient and multicolour (red, orange, yellow and green) visible light emission from highly porous, electrochemically etched silicon2,3 has therefore generated much interest. On the basis of strong but indirect evidence, this phenomenon was initially attributed to quantum size effects within crystalline material2, but this interpretation has subsequently been extensively debated. Here we report results from a transmission electron microscopy study which reveals the structure of the porous layers that emit red light under photoexcitation. Our results constitute direct evidence that highly porous silicon contains quantum-size crystalline structures responsible for the visible emission. We show that arrays of linear quantum wires are present and obtain images of individual quantum wires of width <3 nm.
1,285 citations