Ultra-high aspect ratio Si nanowires fabricated with plasma etching: plasma processing, mechanical stability analysis...

Room-temperature deep Si etching using time-multiplexed deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) processes is investigated to fabricate ultra-high aspect ratio Si nanowires (SiNWs) perpendicular to the silicon substrate. Nanopatterning is achieved using either top-down techniques (e.g. electron beam lithography) or colloidal polystyrene (PS) sphere self-assembly. The latter is a faster and more economical method if imperfections in diameter and position can be tolerated. We demonstrate wire radii from below 100 nm to several micrometers, and aspect ratios (ARs) above 100:1 with etching rates above 1 μm min(-1) using classical mass flow controllers with pulsing rise times of seconds. The mechanical stability of these nanowires is studied theoretically and experimentally against adhesion and capillary forces. It is shown that above ARs of the order of 50:1 for spacing 1 μm, SiNWs tend to bend due to adhesion forces between them. Such large adhesion forces are due to the high surface energy of silicon. Wetting the SiNWs with water and drying also gives rise to capillary forces. We find that capillary forces may be less important for SiNW collapse/bending compared to adhesion forces of dry SiNWs, contrary to what is observed for polymeric nanowires/nanopillars which have a much lower surface energy compared to silicon. Finally we show that SiNW arrays have oleophobic and superoleophobic properties, i.e. they exhibit excellent anti-wetting properties for a wide range of liquids and oils due to the re-entrant profile produced by the DRIE process and the well-designed spacing.