Abstract Catalyst-assisted chemical etching is an emerging technology for fabricating a variety of three-dimensional nanostructures on a semiconductor surface for future electronic and optical devices. In contrast to conventional wet etching using noble metals, we performed a fundamental study on the chemical etching of a Ge surface assisted by dispersed sheets of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in water with dissolved O2 molecules. We found that a monolayer sheet of rGO on Ge does not act as a mask but as a chemical tool that enhances etching under the entire sheet. This is probably caused by the dissociation of adsorbed O2 molecules at the edges of vacancies in an rGO sheet, which leads to the formation of a soluble GeO2 layer. We also propose that the reagents and by-products involved in this etching diffuse along the interface between an rGO sheet and the wall of etched Ge, which we believe is a key for achieving higher etching rates. This study is expected to lead to a nanoscale manufacturing process for semiconductor surfaces free from noble-metal contamination.

中文翻译：

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单片还原氧化石墨烯辅助半导体表面的化学蚀刻

摘要 催化剂辅助化学蚀刻是一种新兴技术，用于在半导体表面制造各种三维纳米结构，用于未来的电子和光学器件。与使用贵金属的传统湿法蚀刻相比，我们对 Ge 表面的化学蚀刻进行了基础研究，该化学蚀刻由在具有溶解 O2 分子的水中分散的还原氧化石墨烯 (rGO) 片辅助。我们发现 Ge 上的单层 rGO 片不是作为掩膜而是作为一种化学工具来增强整个片下的蚀刻。这可能是由于在 rGO 片中的空位边缘吸附的 O2 分子解离，导致形成可溶性 GeO2 层。我们还提出，该蚀刻中涉及的试剂和副产物沿着 rGO 片和蚀刻的 Ge 壁之间的界面扩散，我们认为这是实现更高蚀刻速率的关键。预计这项研究将导致半导体表面无贵金属污染的纳米级制造工艺。