Silicon flat single-crystal

In the early days of silicon device manufacturing the need for surfaces with a low defect density led to the development of CP solutions. Defect etchants were developed at the same time in order to study the crystal quality for different crystal growth processes. The improvement of the growth methods and the introduction of chemo-mechanical polishing methods led to defect-free single crystals with optically flat surfaces of superior electronic properties. This reduced the interest in CP and defect delineation. 

In this study, we clarified these friction-reduction effects under microload conditions by measuring the friction and pull-off forces for two-dimensional asperity arrays on silicon plates. First, two-dimensional asperity arrays were created using a focused ion bean (FIB) system to mill patterns on single-crystal silicon plates. Each silicon plate had several different patterns of equally spaced asperities. Then, the friction and pull-off forces were measured using an atomic force microscope (AFM) that had a square, flat probe. This report describes the geometry effects of creating asperity arrays and the chanical effects of depositing LB films or SAMs on the friction and puU-off forces. 

Potential-Programmed Electropolymerization (PPEP). This technique allows compositional modulation over distances of the order of 100 A. Mesoscopic layered structures with high lateral quality are produced by the PPEP method. An improvement of the flatness and uniformity of the layered structure is achieved by careful choice of an appropriate working electrode (silicon single-crystal wafer), monomer (pyrrole/bithiophene or pyrrole/3-methyl-thiophene) and solvent (propylene carbonate). The PPEP method can produce materials having desirable properties tailored by the quantum size effect [703-705]. 

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