A Materials Visualization Competition Winner
The Materials Visualization Competition (MVC) is a competition that increases awareness of materials science through the creativity and visualization of our researchers. One of this year's winners imaged this pattern in the nanofabrication lab.
SUBMITTED BY: Pranavram Venkatram, graduate student in Engineering Science and Mechanics
SCIENTIFIC STATEMENT: CrOCl, a layered two-dimensional metal oxyhalide, was mechanically exfoliated onto a silicon substrate and subsequently patterned into square mesas using electron-beam lithography. The patterned flakes were then subjected to reactive ion etching (RIE) in an SF6/O2 plasma for 6 minutes. Owing to its pronounced resistance to fluorine-based plasma chemistries, CrOCl acts as an effective hard mask, preserving the underlying silicon directly beneath the patterned regions. Concurrent lateral underetching during plasma exposure progressively sculpts the exposed silicon into tapered, pyramid-like features, yielding the periodic structures shown. The resulting morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).