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Inside Back Cover: Large‐area fabrication of equidistant free‐standing Si crystals on nanoimprinted glass (Phys. Status Solidi RRL 10–11/2011)
Author(s) -
Sontheimer Tobias,
RudigierVoigt Eveline,
Bockmeyer Matthias,
Klimm Carola,
SchubertBischoff Peter,
Becker Christiane,
Rech Bernd
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.201190025
Subject(s) - materials science , fabrication , etching (microfabrication) , nanotechnology , crystallization , optoelectronics , resist , layer (electronics) , chemical engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , engineering
The implementation of periodic crystalline Si nanostructures into large‐area high‐quality photovoltaic and photonic devices requires the development of a versatile, scalable and cost‐effective preparation process. By combining exclusively low‐cost preparation techniques, such as nanoimprint lithography, high‐rate electron beam evaporation of amorphous Si, solid phase crystallization and etching, Sontheimer et al. ( pp. 376–378 ) developed a fabrication process for tailored periodic arrays of free‐standing Si crystals on large areas of 50 cm 2 . The cover shows SEM images of a designed structure of 2 μm tall free‐standing Si crystals on a two‐dimensional periodic imprinted structure protruding from an underlying polycrystalline Si base layer. The preparation process is based on the distinct microstructure of the deposited Si, with compact Si forming at the tip and bottom of the imprinted structure and porous Si located at its walls. The porous areas resist the crystallization process and can finally be removed in a selective etching process.