title: Highly efficient shrinkage of inverted-pyramid silicon nanopores by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technology.
abstract: Solid-state nanopore-based analysis systems are currently one of the most attractive and promising platforms in sensing fields. This work presents a highly efficient method to shrink inverted-pyramid silicon nanopores using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technology by the deposition of SiN x onto the surface of the nanopore. The contraction of the inverted-pyramid silicon nanopores when subjected to the PECVD process has been modeled and carefully analyzed, and the modeling data are in good agreement with the experimental results within a specific PECVD shrinkage period (∼0-600 s). Silicon nanopores within a 50-400 nm size range contract to sub-10 nm dimensions. Additionally, the inner structure of the nanopores after the PECVD process has been analyzed by focused ion beam cutting process. The results show an inner structure morphology change from inverted-pyramid to hourglass, which may enhance the spatial resolution of sensing devices.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microelectronics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yifan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Zewen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu