Charging Effect in Plasma Etching Mask of Hole Array

It has already been found that the round shape of holes can be changed into hexagonal shape during plasma etching processes.This work aims to understand the mechanism behind such a shape change using particle simulation method.The distribution of electric field produced by electrons was calculated for different heights from the mask surface.It is found that the field strength reaches its maximum around a hole edge and becomes the weakest between two holes. The field strength is weakened as moving away from the surface.The spatial distribution of this electric field shows obvious hexagonal shape around a hole edge at some distances from the surface. This charging distribution then affects the trajectories of ions that fall on a mask surface so that the round hole edge is etched to become a hexagonal hole edge.The changing of this hole shape will again alter the spatial distribution of electric field to enhance the charging effect dynamically.

Improvement of machining consistency during through-mask electrochemical large-area machining

Electrochemical machining(ECM) is an important machining technique for the aeronautical manufacturing industry. Through-mask ECM is a form of ECM for machining metal parts with a hole array. In order to extend the machining area, a serpentine flow channel with multiple curves was used for through-mask ECM. With the extension of the flow channel, ensuring a machining consistency along the flow channel has been a challenge. The electrolyte conductivity is the main factor affecting the machining consistency. To analyze the change rules of the electrolyte conductivity, variations in the bubble rate and the temperature of the electrolyte in the electrolyte flow were explored under different power sources. Results indicate that pulse-power machining can reduce variations in the bubble rate and the temperature in the serpentine flow channel, and then the electrolyte conductivity can be stabilized within a very small range. Experiments using through-mask ECM were conducted in two types of power sources. Experimental results support the importance of pulse-power machining. A 14×28 hole array with a 2.5 mm diameter was fabricated by a pulsed power source. The aperture deviation of the hole array is less than 0.05 mm, and the roundness deviation is less than 15 lm when fabricated with pulse machining.

Patterning two-dimensional semiconductors with thermal etching

The controllable synthesis of complicated nanostructures in advanced two-dimensional(2D)semiconductors,such as periodic regular hole arrays,is essential and remains immature.Here,we report a green,facile,highly controlled synthetic method to efficiently pattern 2D semiconductors,such as periodic regular hexagonal-shaped hole arrays(HHA),in 2D-TMDs.Combining the production of artificial defect arrays through laser irradiation with anisotropic annealing etching,we created HHA with different arrangements,controlled hole sizes,and densities in bilayer WS_(2).Atomic force microscopy(AFM),Raman,photoluminescence(PL),and scanning transmission electron microscopy(STEM)characterization show that the 2D semiconductors have high quality with atomical clean and sharp edges as well as undamaged crystals in the unetched region.Furthermore,other nanostructures,such as nanoribbons and periodic regular triangular-shaped 2D-TMD arrays,can be fabricated.This kind of 2D semiconductors fabrication strategy is general and can be extended to a series of 2D materials.Density functional theory(DFT)calculations show that one WS_(2)molecule from the edges of the laser-irradiated holed region exhibits a robust etching activation,making selective etching at the artificial defects and the fabrication of regular 2D semiconductors possible.