Formulations to selectively etch silicon and germanium

1. A method of selectively removing silicon-containing material from the surface of a microelectronic device relative to germanium-containing material, said method comprising:

providing a microelectronic device comprising silicon-containing material and germanium-containing material; and

selectively etching the silicon-containing material relative to the germanium-containing material by contacting a silicon selective composition with the surface of the microelectronic device for time and temperature necessary to selectively remove silicon-containing material relative to germanium-containing material, wherein the silicon selective composition comprises from about 70 wt % to about 99 wt % of at least one diol compound, from about 0.01 wt % to about 5 wt % of at least one fluoride species, and from about 0.01 wt % to about 10 wt % of at least one oxidizing species.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the silicon selective composition further comprises water.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one diol species comprises a species selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol, neopentyl glycol, propylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,2-butanediol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,2-pentanediol, 1,3-pentanediol, 1,4-pentanediol, 2,3-butanediol, 3-methyl-1,2-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, 2-methyl-1,3-pentanediol, 2,4-pentanediol, 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, 2,3-pentanediol, 1,2-hexanediol, 2-ethyl-1,3-hexanediol, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-hexanediol, 1,2-octanediol and combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one fluoride species comprises a species selected from the group consisting of hydrofluoric acid, hexafluorotitanic acid, hexafluorosilicic acid, hexafluorozirconic acid, tetrafluoboric acid, tetrabutylammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate, tetraalkylammonium tetrafluoroborates (NR 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 BF 4 ), tetraalkylammonium hexafluorophosphates (NR 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 PF 6 ), tetraalkylammonium fluorides (NR 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 F), ammonium bifluoride, ammonium fluoride, where R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 may be the same as or different from one another and is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, straight-chained or branched C 1 -C 6 alkyl groups, C 1 -C 6 alkoxy groups, or substituted or unsubstituted aryl groups.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one oxidizing species comprises a species selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide, FeCl 3 , FeF 3 , Fe(NO 3 ) 3 , Sr(NO 3 ) 2 , CoF 3 , MnF 3 , oxone (2KHSO 5 .KHSO 4 .K 2 SO 4 ), periodic acid, iodic acid, vanadium (V) oxide, vanadium (IV, V) oxide, ammonium vanadate, ammonium peroxomonosulfate, ammonium chlorite, ammonium chlorate, ammonium iodate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium perborate, ammonium perchlorate, ammonium periodate, ammonium persulfate, ammonium hypochlorite, ammonium hypobromite, ammonium tungstate, sodium persulfate, sodium hypochlorite, sodium perborate, sodium hypobromite, potassium iodate, potassium permanganate, potassium persulfate, nitric acid, potassium persulfate, potassium hypochlorite, tetramethylammonium chlorite, tetramethylammonium chlorate, tetramethylammonium iodate, tetramethylammonium perborate, tetramethylammonium perchlorate, tetramethylammonium periodate, tetramethylammonium persulfate, tetrabutylammonium peroxomonosulfate, peroxomonosulfuric acid, ferric nitrate, urea hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, methyl-1,4-benzoquinone (MBQ), 1,4-benzoquinone (BQ), 1,2-benzoquinone, 2,6-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone (DCBQ), toluquinone, 2,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (DMBQ), chloranil, alloxan, N-methylmorpholine N-oxide, trimethylamine N-oxide, and combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the amount of water in the silicon selective composition is in a range from about 0.1 wt % to about 40 wt %.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selectivity of silicon-containing compounds relative to germanium-containing compounds at 25° C. is greater than 3:1 with silicon-containing material etch rates greater than 4 Å/min.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein time is in a range of from about 1 minute to about 200 minutes at temperature in a range of from about 20° C. to about 100° C.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the silicon-containing materials comprise at least one of silicon; n-doped silicon; p-doped silicon; silicon oxide, gate oxides; TEOS; silicon nitride; thermal oxide; SiOH; SiCOH; titanium silicide; tungsten silicide; nickel silicides; cobalt silicides; and low-k dielectric materials.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the germanium-containing materials comprise at least one of a bulk germanium wafer, n-doped germanium, p-doped germanium, a germanium-on-insulator (GOI) wafer, a germanium layer on a substrate, titanium germanide, tungsten germanide, nickel germanide, and cobalt germanide.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least one oxidizing species comprises any of the quinones, hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, and ammonium iodate.