Development of a TEM Compatible Nanowire Characterization Platform With Self-Forming Contacts

A nanowire characterization platform is designed and fabricated in MEMS-technology for the thermoelectric and structural characterization of single nanowires. The latter is achieved by making the chip compatible to TEM holder, by restricting its thickness to less than 160 μm and its diagonal dimensions to less than 3 mm. Two different fabrication technologies are presented for the realization of such platform, based on a design reproducing the functional requirements. Our first fabrication technique is based on ICP etching, using (100)-silicon wafers, and a subsequent rear grinding. However, as the design includes a vertical wall trench structures, ICP etching of such deep recesses is time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, a second fabrication process is developed, making use of wet-etched (110)-silicon. With these substrates a challenge arises from the intersection of inclined {111} facets. To solve this natural limitation, we introduce a novel fabrication process. Our technique relies on damaging the intersecting {111} planes, to make them etchable again and to produce deeper trenches with vertical walls in a wet-chemical etching process. Additionally, the electrical contacts at the platform are made from porous metal to increase the surface-to-volume ratio, to increase the possibility of a spontaneous electrical contact between the electrodes and nanowires.