Feasible method to fabricate a nickel-nanodot mask on a silicon substrate with conventional thermal annealing

In this paper, a simple and feasible method to fabricate a Ni-nanodot mask on a silicon substrate is reported. Without using a high-cost rapid thermal annealing (RTA) furnace, this method was based on the conventional thermal annealing of a Ni layer deposited on a Si substrate. In addition, the influences of the Ni-layer thickness and annealing conditions on the size and density of the Ni nanodots were systematically investigated. The as-prepared Ni nanodots were well distributed, having a uniform size and a regular spherical shape. Moreover, a Si nanopillar array could be fabricated by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching using the as-obtained Ni-nanodot array mask.