Abstract

A novel nanochannel glass (NCG) structure¹ for fabricating semiconductor materials with ultrasmall dimensions has been developed. The glass consists of large numbers (>10⁶) of uniform parallel pores or channels arranged in arrays, with packing densities as high as 5 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻² The pores are highly uniform and can be made as small as tens of nanometers in diameter. The fabrication of these nanochannel glass materials is not unlike that of optical fibers and microchannel plates. Thin wafers of the NCG have been used as an optically transparent template for the deposition of a variety of semiconductor materials. The pores of the glass confine the volume of deposited semiconductor material to that of an ultrafine wire or dot. The nanochannel glass has also been used as a lithographic mask for defining regions for the formation and growth of semiconductor materials.

© 1993 Optical Society of America