Preparation of a nanopatterned surface of bonded silicon wafers using electrochemical thinning and chemical etching: A scanning tunnel microscopy investigation

Sacrificial anodic oxidation is used to thin silicon wafer bonding substrates. Chemical solutions, sensitive to the periodic strain field present in the upper ultra-thin silicon layer, are employed for selective etching. Subsequent scanning tunnel microscopy observations reveal a square array of trenches corresponding to the buried screw dislocation network initially formed at the bonding interface. The influence of the initial thickness and the annealing of the ultra-thin film on roughness and trench depth of the nanopatterned substrates are examined. Germanium growth experiments are performed in order to show the self-organization character of resulting structured surfaces.