Researchers improve fabrication process of nano-structures for electronic devices

Researchers at RIT have found a more efficient fabricating process to produce semiconductors used in today's electronic devices. They also confirmed that materials other than silicon can be used successfully in the development process that could increase performance of electronic devices. This fabrication process—the I-MacEtch, or inverse metal-assisted chemical etching method—can help meet the growing demand for more powerful and reliable nano-technologies needed for solar cells, smartphones, telecommunications grids and new applications in photonics and quantum computing.

"What is novel about our work is that for the first time we are looking at applying I-MacEtch processing to indium-gallium-phosphide materials. I-MacEtch is an alternative to two conventional approaches and is a technique that has been used in the field—but the materials that have been explored are fairly limited," said Parsian Mohseni, assistant professor of microsystems engineering in RIT's Kate Gleason College of Engineering. He is also director of the EINS Laboratory at the university.