Ultra-small integrated circuits have revolutionized
mobile phones, home appliances, cars, and other everyday
technologies. To further miniaturize electronics and enable
advanced functions, circuits must be reliably fabricated in three
dimensions. Achieving ultrafine 3-D shape control by etching into
silicon is difficult, because even atomic-scale damage reduces
device performance. Researchers at Nara Institute of Science and
Technology (NAIST) have published a new study in Crystal Growth and
Design in which they etched silicon to adopt the shape of
atomically smooth pyramids. Coating these silicon pyramids with a
thin layer of iron imparted magnetic properties that until now were
only theoretical.
Researchers fabricate arrays of atomically smooth
iron-coated silicon pyramids with unusual magnetic
properties
