Researchers have developed a new technique to create nanostructures inside silicon wafers with unprecedented control. Silicon is crucial for modern electronics, photovoltaics, and photonics. However, traditional methods were limited due to the difficulties posed by existing lithographic techniques.
The team from Bilkent University overcame this challenge by using spatial light modulation to create a non-diffracting laser beam that can penetrate deep into the silicon wafer without causing alterations. This breakthrough enables the fabrication of nanostructures with unprecedented control, achieving feature sizes down to 100 nm.
The process involves localizing the energy of the laser pulse within the semiconductor material to an extremely small volume, which leads to sub-wavelength and multi-dimensional control directly inside the material. The researchers used spatially-modulated laser pulses that can be controlled using advanced holographic projection techniques.
This new fabrication regime marks an improvement by an order of magnitude over the state-of-the-art. It has significant implications for developing nano-scale systems with unique architectures. The ability to fabricate at the nano-scale directly inside silicon opens up a new regime, toward further integration and advanced photonics.
The research team demonstrated large-area volumetric nanostructuring with beyond-diffraction-limit features, enabling proof-of-concept buried nano-photonic elements. These advances have significant implications for developing nano-scale systems with unique architectures.
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+Source: https://phys.org/news/2024-07-unprecedented-nanostructuring-silicon.html