Atomic scale fabrication and characterization on silicon surfaces

Joseph W. Lyding, Lequn Liu, Jixin Yu, Peter M. Albrecht, and Robert M. Farrell

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Beckman Institute

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Abstract

Silicon (100) surfaces passivated with hydrogen under UHV conditions serve as ideal templates for nanofabrication. We have used the STM to remove hydrogen from the surface in a process which we can now control with single atom precision. We have used the selective chemical reactivity of the exposed silicon dangling bonds to fabricate molecular arrays and to grow silicon nanostructures by CVD. Since the H-passivation eliminates surface states, it is possible to observe and map with atomic precision subsurface dopants. Finally, the robust nature of the UHV H-passivated Si(100) surface enables experiments in which ex situ treatments are followed by UHV STM analysis. We will report on the use of this scheme to integrate carbon nanotubes with silicon.