Formation of Silicon Nanopores and Nanopillars by a Maskless Deep Reactive Ion Etching Process

This paper presents a maskless process to create silicon nanopores and nanopillars by inductively coupled plasma deep reactive ion etching (ICP DRIE). Preliminary controllability on densities of pores and pillars as well as dimensions of pillars was demonstrated. The pore generating process was also used to create porous polysilicon films for surface micromachining applications. A buried channel was successfully released using the porous polysilicon film fabricated by this method. Nanopillar technology was applied to micro fuel cells to significantly increase the active surface area of silicon-based electrodes.