Superlattice for fabricating nanowires
View Patent ↗This disclosure relates to a system and method for creating nanowires. A nanowire can be created by exposing layers of material in a superlattice and dissolving and transferring material from edges of the exposed layers onto a substrate. The nanowire can also be created by exposing layers of material in a superlattice and depositing material onto edges of the exposed layers.
1. A system comprising:
a superlattice having multiple alternating layers including first alternating layers of a first material and second alternating layers of a second material, at least one layer of the multiple alternating layers having a length, a thickness, and a depth, the multiple alternating layers being deposited in a direction substantially parallel to the thickness;
wherein:
the multiple alternating layers have a first surface for forming nanowires, the first surface extending substantially parallel to the thickness, the first surface including a portion of the first alternating layers and the second alternating layers; and
the multiple alternating layers having a second surface that is physically separated from the first surface, the second surface for electrical communication with the multiple alternating layers.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of two or more of the multiple alternating layers is less than 50 nanometers.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first alternating layers are conductive at the first surface and the second surface.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second material is conductive at the second surface but is oxidized, nitrided, or coated by an insulator at the first surface to be non-conductive at the first surface.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first material and the second material have different oxidation rates.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first material and the second material have different nitridation rates.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first material is conductive, the second material is non-conductive, and the second surface exposes two or more of the first alternating layers.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first material is tantalum, the second material is aluminum oxide, and the second surface exposes two or more of the first alternating layers.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first material is gold and the second material is tantalum.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein one of the first material or the second material is semiconducting.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first material is a first type of semiconducting material and the second material is a second type of semiconducting material.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first material is a first type of semiconducting material and the second material is a second type of semiconducting material, wherein the first type and the second type have different dopant species or concentrations.
13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a thin, low-adhesion adhesive layer on the first surface that does not substantially interfere with a conductive property of the first surface.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first surface comprises a planar surface.
15. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an electrical power source or an electrical power sink connected to the second surface.
16. A system comprising:
a superlattice having multiple alternating layers of a first material and a second material, at least one layer of the multiple alternating layers having a length, a thickness, and a depth, the multiple alternating layers being deposited in a direction substantially parallel to the thickness;
wherein:
at least one of the multiple alternating layers of the first material has a first surface that extends substantially parallel to the thickness;
at least one of the multiple alternating layers of the second material having a second surface that extends substantially parallel to the first surface, and wherein the second surface is offset from the first surface; and
the multiple alternating layers having a third surface, the third surface being physically remote from the first surface and the second surface, the third surface for electrical communication.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the first material and the second material have different etch rates.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the first material and the second material are single-crystalline and epitaxial with respect to each other.
19. A system comprising:
a superlattice having multiple alternating layers of two or more conductive materials alternating with one or more other materials, at least one of the multiple alternating layers having a length, a thickness, and a depth, the multiple alternating layers being deposited in a direction substantially parallel with the thickness;
wherein:
the multiple alternating layers of the conductive materials have a first set of exposed faces and the multiple alternating layers of the other materials have a second set of exposed faces, the first set of exposed faces being offset from the second set of exposed faces in a direction taken perpendicular to the thickness, and the multiple alternating layers of conductive materials have a third set of exposed faces in electrical communication of an electrical power source or an electrical power sink.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein a first of the two or more conductive materials includes tantalum and a second of the two or more conductive materials includes gold.
21. The system of claim 19 , wherein a first of the two or more conductive materials includes tantalum and a second of the two or more conductive materials includes nickel.
22. The system of claim 19 , wherein the other materials includes aluminum.
23. The system of claim 19 , wherein the other materials includes aluminum oxide.