Ultrathin films suspended as freestanding membranes are critical to many microelectronic and materials science applications. However, fabrication methods are currently limited in either their flexibility, due to material selectivity issues during the final membrane release, or their scalability. Here, we demonstrate a novel fabrication process for suspending ultrathin films with thicknesses as low as 4 nm and lateral dimensions up to 20 × 1000 μm from a variety of materials grown by atomic layer deposition. A silicon nitride membrane serves as the support for a sacrificial polymer layer and an ultrathin atomic layer deposition film which, after plasma etching, will form the membrane. The high chemical selectivity between atomic layer deposition-grown transition metal nitrides and oxides and the sacrificial polymer means that ultrathin films of a variety of materials can be released without damage using a single process. Electrically conductive titanium nitride membranes can be produced by this method and are of significant interest for electron microscopy applications. Electron transparency of titanium nitride membranes was found to be ∼14% higher than silicon nitride of the same thickness, and of similar conductivity to graphite, meaning that ultrathin, conductive, and electron transparent membranes can be fabricated at scale. These membranes are ideal supports for electron and photon characterization techniques, as well as microelectromechanical system applications that require a conductive membrane.
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Fabrication of ultrathin suspended membranes from atomic layer deposition films
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March 2022
Research Article|
February 01 2022
Fabrication of ultrathin suspended membranes from atomic layer deposition films
Michael J. Elowson
;
Michael J. Elowson
a)
1
The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 94720
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Rohan Dhall;
Rohan Dhall
1
The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 94720
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Adam Schwartzberg
;
Adam Schwartzberg
1
The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 94720
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Stephanie Y. Chang
;
Stephanie Y. Chang
1
The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 94720
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Vittoria Tommasini;
Vittoria Tommasini
1
The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 94720
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Sardar B. Alam
;
Sardar B. Alam
1
The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 947202
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 94720
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Emory M. Chan
;
Emory M. Chan
1
The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 947202
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 94720
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Stefano Cabrini
;
Stefano Cabrini
1
The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 94720
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Shaul Aloni
Shaul Aloni
1
The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, California 94720
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Note: This paper is part of the Special Collection: 64th International Conference on Electron, Ion, And Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication, EIPBN 2021.
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 40, 023001 (2022)
Article history
Received:
July 22 2021
Accepted:
January 07 2022
Citation
Michael J. Elowson, Rohan Dhall, Adam Schwartzberg, Stephanie Y. Chang, Vittoria Tommasini, Sardar B. Alam, Emory M. Chan, Stefano Cabrini, Shaul Aloni; Fabrication of ultrathin suspended membranes from atomic layer deposition films. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 1 March 2022; 40 (2): 023001. https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0001309
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