Controlling the Geometries of Si Nanowires through Tunable Nanosphere Lithography

A tunable nanosphere lithography (NSL) technique is combined with metal-assisted etching of silicon (Si) to fabricate ordered, high-aspect-ratio Si nanowires. Non-close-packed structures are directly prepared via shear-induced ordering of the nanospheres. The spacing between the nanospheres is independent of their diameters and tuned by changing the loading of nanospheres. Nanowires with spacings between 110 and 850 nm are easily achieved with diameters between 100 and 550 nm. By eliminating plasma or heat treatment of the nanospheres, the diameter of the nanowires fabricated is nearly identical to the nanosphere diameter in the suspension. The elimination of this step helps avoid common drawbacks of traditional NSL approaches, leading to the high-fidelity, large-scale fabrication of highly crystalline, nonporous Si nanowires in ordered hexagonal patterns. The ability to simultaneously control the diameter and spacing makes the NSL technique more versatile and expands the range of geometries that can be fabricated by top-down approaches.