title: Parallel-local anodic oxidation of silicon surfaces by soft stamps.
abstract: We investigate the fabrication of nanometric patterns on silicon surfaces by using the parallel-local anodic oxidation technique with soft stamps. This method yields silicon oxide nanostructures 15 nm high, namely at least five times higher than the nanostructures made with local anodic oxidation using atomic force microscopy, and thanks to the size of the stamp enables one to pattern the surface across a centimetre length scale. To implement this technique, we built a machine to bring the metallized polydimethylsiloxane stamp in contact with the silicon surface, subsequently inserted in a sealed chamber with controlled relative humidity. The oxide nanostructures are fabricated when a bias voltage of 36 V is applied between the stamp and the silicon for 2 min, with a relative humidity of 90%. The flexibility of the stamp enables a homogeneous conformal contact with the silicon surface, resulting in an excellent reproducibility of the process. Moreover, by means of two subsequent oxidations with the same stamp and just rotating the sample, we are able to fabricate complex nanostructures. Finally, a detailed study of the oxidation mechanism, also using a finite element analysis, has been performed to understand the underlying mechanism.
authors.affiliation: CNR-Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati (ISMN), Via P Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Albonetti
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Nuria S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Losilla
authors.forename: Pierpaolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cavallini
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Borgatti
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montecchi
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pasquali
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Biscarini