Premium
Catalyst‐Assisted Electroless Flattening of Ge Surfaces in Dissolved‐O 2 ‐Containing Water
Author(s) -
Kawase Tatsuya,
Saito Yusuke,
Mura Atsushi,
Okamoto Takeshi,
Kawai Kentaro,
Sano Yasuhisa,
Morita Mizuho,
Yamauchi Kazuto,
Arima Kenta
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemelectrochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 2196-0216
DOI - 10.1002/celc.201500245
Subject(s) - flattening , etching (microfabrication) , materials science , catalysis , chemical engineering , metal , isotropic etching , germanium , nanotechnology , layer (electronics) , metallurgy , composite material , chemistry , silicon , organic chemistry , engineering
Control of the microroughness of Ge surfaces is required to realize field‐effect transistors with high performances. We propose a novel surface‐flattening process for Ge that involves the preferential transformation of surface protrusions on Ge into soluble GeO 2 with the help of a catalyst in water. To carry out this process, we developed a setup comprising a catalyst plate covered with a Pt film in contact with a Ge surface in saturated O 2 ‐dissolved water. The role of the metallic film is to enhance the oxygen reduction reaction in water that accompanies the oxidation of protrusions or microbumps on a Ge surface. After presenting the fundamental etching properties of a Ge surface treated with this metal‐assisted chemical etching method, we demonstrate that our water‐based process creates a flattened Ge surface that has few protrusions with a lateral size on the order of 10 nm.