Micro-morphology of single crystalline silicon surfaces during anisotropic wet chemical etching in KOH: velocity source forests

Veenendaal van, E. and Sato, K. and Shikida, M. and Nijdam, A.J. and Suchtelen van, J. (2001) Micro-morphology of single crystalline silicon surfaces during anisotropic wet chemical etching in KOH: velocity source forests. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 93 (3). pp. 232-242. ISSN 0924-4247

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Abstract:	For silicon etched in KOH the micro-morphology of any surface, no matter the crystallographic orientation, is defined by some sort of persistent corrugations. As a matter of principle, the occurrence of these corrugations is incompatible with the classical kinematic wave theory for the evolution of crystal shapes. Either the re-entrant or the protruding edges or vertices are stabilized by some mechanism that is not accounted for in the microscopic etch rate function, i.e. are velocity sources. Exact Si ${1 1 1}$ surfaces are dominated by etch pits caused by edge dislocations corresponding to oxygen-induced stacking faults. Exact Si ${1 0 0}$ surfaces are dominated by circular indentations, probably owing to fast etching of accumulations of point defects. On exact and vicinal Si ${1 0 0}$ , also pyramidal protrusions are found, which, we hypothesize, are formed and stabilized by silicate particles adhering to the surface. Exact and vicinal Si ${1 1 0}$ surfaces are dominated by a zigzag pattern at low KOH concentration and a hillock pattern at high KOH concentration, which, we hypothesize, are also the result of the presence of silicate particles, created during etching, on the surface. Vicinal Si ${1 0 0}$ and Si ${1 1 1}$ surfaces, finally, are dominated by step bunching patterns, probably owing to time-dependent impurity adsorption.
Item Type:	Article
Copyright:	© 2001 Elsevier
Research Group:	Transducers Science and Technology (TST)
Link to this item:	http://purl.utwente.nl/publications/74597
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0924-4247(01)00653-7
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