Abstract:

 The etching resolution of electrochemical fabrication technique is influenced significantly by the diffusion layer of the etchant. It has been shown that a fast etching rate can achieve higher etching resolution due to so-called heterogeneous scavenging effect, while a lower etching rate will result in rather lower etching resolution. For the latter case, the confined etchant layer technique(CELT) has been employed to improve the etching resolution. i. e., a certain redox couple which can consume the etchant homogeneously and rapidly was added to the solution. The homogeneous scavenging effect confined the etchant within a narrow layer around the electrode surface and much improved etching resolution was achieved. Using the CELT and a needle-shaped microelectrode, an etching spot of several micro-meters was obtained at silicon wafer surface.

Key words: Micro-(nano-)fabrication, Scanning electrochemical microscopy, Confined etchant layer technique, Silicon