Dimensional control in corner lithography for wafer-scale fabrication of nano-apertures

In this paper we investigate a new method to fabricate 3D-oriented nanostructures in wafer scale, and apply it to fabricate a nano-apertures at the apex of a pyramid. A number of new technologies require the use of apertures to serve as electrical, nano fluidic or optical probes. Controlling the size of the aperture is one of the key problems in fabrication process. Our approach is based on corner lithography and offers wafer scale control of the size of the aperture in diameters less than 1 μm. We show how to control the size of the nano-aperture by timed isotropic etching of silicon nitride, which serves as a mask for the aperture formation.