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Constantinou P, Stock TJZ, Tseng LT, Kazazis D, Muntwiler M, Vaz CAF, Ekinci Y, Aeppli G, Curson NJ, Schofield SR. EUV-induced hydrogen desorption as a step towards large-scale silicon quantum device patterning. Nat Commun 2024; 15:694. [PMID: 38267459 PMCID: PMC10808421 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-44790-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Atomically precise hydrogen desorption lithography using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) has enabled the development of single-atom, quantum-electronic devices on a laboratory scale. Scaling up this technology to mass-produce these devices requires bridging the gap between the precision of STM and the processes used in next-generation semiconductor manufacturing. Here, we demonstrate the ability to remove hydrogen from a monohydride Si(001):H surface using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. We quantify the desorption characteristics using various techniques, including STM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and photoemission electron microscopy (XPEEM). Our results show that desorption is induced by secondary electrons from valence band excitations, consistent with an exactly solvable non-linear differential equation and compatible with the current 13.5 nm (~92 eV) EUV standard for photolithography; the data imply useful exposure times of order minutes for the 300 W sources characteristic of EUV infrastructure. This is an important step towards the EUV patterning of silicon surfaces without traditional resists, by offering the possibility for parallel processing in the fabrication of classical and quantum devices through deterministic doping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Procopios Constantinou
- London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, WC1H 0AH, London, UK.
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, WC1E 6BT, London, UK.
- Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
| | - Taylor J Z Stock
- London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, WC1H 0AH, London, UK
- Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London, WC1E 7JE, UK
| | - Li-Ting Tseng
- Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Carlos A F Vaz
- Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - Yasin Ekinci
- Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
| | - Gabriel Aeppli
- Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Physics, ETH Zürich, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
- Quantum Center, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich (ETHZ), 8093, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Neil J Curson
- London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, WC1H 0AH, London, UK
- Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London, London, WC1E 7JE, UK
| | - Steven R Schofield
- London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, WC1H 0AH, London, UK.
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, WC1E 6BT, London, UK.
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