Laser-enhanced chemical etching of nanotips

1. A method of forming an integrated circuit (IC) device, comprising:

sharpening a nanotip, the sharpening comprising:

immersing the nanotip in an etchant, the nanotip comprising a base and an apex, the apex having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the base, and

irradiating the nanotip with laser fluence to establish a temperature gradient in the nanotip along a direction from the apex to the base of the nanotip such that the apex and base are etched at different rates;

performing wafer metrology on a wafer having a plurality of devices using the sharpened nanotip to measure device performance.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the laser fluence is irradiated on the nanotip in a direction from the apex to the base.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the laser fluence is irradiated on the nanotip in a plurality of pulses.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein:

the plurality of pulses are of a relatively short duration; and

etching of the nanotip between the pulses is minimal.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the diameter of the apex is at least several times smaller than a wavelength of the laser fluence.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the diameter of the base is at least several times larger than a wavelength of the laser fluence.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the nanotip has a conical shape.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the nanotip is made of tungsten (W), gold (Au), tantalum (Ta), iron (Fe), platinum (Pt), iridium (Ir), or platinum-Iridium (Pt—Ir).

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the etchant is a potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, an ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) solution, or a combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the laser fluence comprises a green laser with a wavelength of about 532 nm.

11. A method of sharpening a nanotip, comprising:

immersing the nanotip in an etchant; and

irradiating the nanotip with a laser beam along an axial direction of the nanotip to sharpen the nanotip,

wherein the nanotip has a tapered shape with an apex and a base,

wherein the nanotip is immersed in the etchant in a substantially upright orientation with the apex of the nanotip pointing toward a surface of the etchant,

wherein the apex of the nanotip has a dimension substantially smaller than a wavelength of the laser beam, and

wherein the base of the nanotip has a dimension substantially larger than the wavelength of the laser beam.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein fluence and a pulse duration of the laser beam are configured such that etching of the nanotip between pulses of the laser beam is minimal.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the nanotip is made of tungsten (W), gold (Au), tantalum (Ta), iron (Fe), platinum (Pt), iridium (Ir), or platinum-Iridium (Pt—Ir).

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the etchant is a potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, an ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) solution, or a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein a radius of curvature of the nanotip after sharpening is about 10 nm.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the laser beam comprises a green laser with a wavelength of about 532 nm.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the laser beam is emitted in a number of pulses in short durations.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein the nanotip is prefabricated by a process comprising:

immersing a portion of a conductive wire into an etchant;

applying alternating current (AC) power to the conductive wire; and

at a sudden drop in current, pulling the conductive wire out of the etchant at a fixed pull-up speed.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the conductive wire is a polycrystalline wire made of tungsten (W), gold (Au), tantalum (Ta), iron (Fe), platinum (Pt), iridium (Ir), or platinum-Iridium (Pt—Ir).

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the etchant is a potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, an ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) solution, or a combination thereof.