Metal foils with ordered crystal structure and method for producing metal foils

1. A method for producing a metal foil comprising:

depositing metal onto an oxidizable substrate comprising single crystal Si to form a metal film on the substrate;

oxidizing the substrate at an interface between the metal film and the substrate; and

removing the metal film from the substrate to yield a metal foil.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate is single-crystal Si (111) and the metal film is single-crystal Au (111).

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the oxidizing comprises directing light energy through the metal film to impact the substrate at the interface.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the oxidizing comprises submerging the metal film and substrate in an acidic solution and directing light energy through the metal film to impact the substrate at the interface while the metal film and substrate are submerged in the solution.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein said depositing said metal comprises:

pre-polarizing the single-crystal Si by application of a potential which is negative of a potential at which Si oxidizes, which pre-polarization occurs in the presence of metal ions to form metal growth nucleation sites on the substrate, followed by

application of a potential at which both oxidation of Si and electrodeposition of the metal occur to grow the metal film and perform said oxidizing of the Si to SiOx, which potential is more positive than the potential applied in the pre-polarization step.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the substrate is single-crystal Si (100) and the metal film is single-crystal Cu (100).

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the oxidizing comprises directing light energy through the metal film to impact the substrate at the interface.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the oxidizing comprises submerging the metal film and substrate in an acidic solution and directing light energy through the metal film to impact the substrate at the interface while the metal film and substrate are submerged in the solution.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein said depositing said metal comprises:

pre-polarizing the single-crystal Si by application of a potential which is negative of a potential at which Si oxidizes, which pre-polarization occurs in the presence of metal ions to form metal growth nucleation sites on the substrate, followed by

application of a potential at which both oxidation of Si and electrodeposition of the metal occur to grow the metal film and perform said oxidizing of the Si to SiOx, which potential is more positive than the potential applied in the pre-polarization step.

10. The method of claim 1 comprising:

said depositing said metal wherein the substrate is single-crystal silicon and the metal film is single-crystal Au having a thickness between about 5 and about 50 nm;

said oxidizing the substrate is performed by directing light energy through the metal film to impact the substrate at the interface while the metal film and substrate are submerged in an acidic solution; and

the removing the metal film from the substrate is performed by attaching an adhesive element to the metal film and pulling the adhesive element away from the substrate to separate the adhesive element and metal film from the substrate.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said depositing said metal comprises:

pre-polarizing the single-crystal Si by application of a potential which is negative of a potential at which Si oxidizes, which pre-polarization occurs in the presence of metal ions to form metal growth nucleation sites on the substrate, followed by

application of a potential at which both oxidation of Si and electrodeposition of the metal occur to grow the metal film and perform said oxidizing of the Si to SiOx, which potential is more positive than the potential applied in the pre-polarization step.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein:

said substrate is single-crystal Si and the metal film has a thickness of at least about 5 nm;

said oxidizing the substrate is performed by application of a potential which oxidizes Si to SiOx during electrodeposition of the metal; and

the removing the metal film from the substrate is performed by attaching an adhesive element to the metal film and pulling the adhesive element away from the substrate to separate the adhesive element and metal film from the substrate.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the metal is Cu and the metal film is single crystal Cu.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein said depositing said metal comprises:

pre-polarizing the single-crystal Si by application of a potential which is negative of a potential at which Si oxidizes, which pre-polarization occurs in the presence of metal ions to form metal growth nucleation sites on the substrate, followed by

application of a potential at which both oxidation of Si and electrodeposition of the metal occur to grow the metal film and perform said oxidizing of the Si to SiOx, which potential is more positive than the potential applied in the pre-polarization step.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the metal is Cu.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the metal is Au, Ag, Cu, Au-based, Ag-based, or Cu-based.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the metal film has a thickness between about 5 and about 50 nm.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the oxidizing comprises directing light energy through the metal film to impact the substrate at the interface.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the oxidizing comprises submerging the metal film and substrate in an acidic solution and directing light energy through the metal film to impact the substrate at the interface while the metal film and substrate are submerged in the solution.

20. The method of claim 1 further comprising exposing the metal film and substrate to a hydrofluoric acid solution prior to removing the metal film from the substrate.