Metal nanolayer formed by tunnelling current through thin oxide in the electrolyte-oxide-silicon system

Abstract

We propose a method of forming metal nanoparticles or layers on the oxide by tunnelling current of the EOS (electrolyte-oxide-silicon) system. Electrical characteristics of the metal layer and particles obtained experimentally by the proposed method are compared with the electrolyte-metal-oxide-silicon and the metal-oxide-silicon systems. Also, it is shown that the instability of the EOS system is caused by the H+ penetration into the oxide and is largely cured by applying alternative voltage to extract the H+ ions from the oxide. We show that the proposed technique can selectively deposit extremely thin metal layers on the active sites of the silicon surface in a self-alignment manner. © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.