Abstract
In the work, a novel fabrication method for homogeneous and sharp nanoprobe array on (111) silicon wafer is presented. The specific spatial structure of {111} planes and the unique anisotropic etching mechanism on (111) wafer were utilized to form a size controllable funnel-neck structure. A highly downscaled size-reduction technology is developed for precise size control. Followed with a self-limiting oxidation procedure, sharp and long needles can be made with precise size control requiring only a series of conventional processes (dry etching of silicon by DRIE, anisotropic wet etching by potassium hydroxide solution and thermal-oxidation-based tip sharpening). The fabricated probe, whose tip’s diameter is less than 30 nm, can potentially have broad application to cell research.
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Acknowledgements
We appreciate financial support from the National Basic Research Program of China Granted Nos. 2012CB933301, 2012CB934102, the Fund for Creative Research of NSFC Granted No. 61321492, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 91323304, 81201358, 61327811, 81402468).
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Zhang, X., Yu, X., Li, T. et al. A novel method to fabricate silicon nanoprobe array with ultra-sharp tip on (111) silicon wafer. Microsyst Technol 24, 2913–2917 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3687-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3687-z