US Patent 7714330 - Silicon nanowire on insulator substrate

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7714330.html

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology has been advantageous over bulk silicon in the fabrication of transistors in order to avoid parasitic electrical effects while facilitating scaling. However, SOI uses amorphous silicon or polysilicon which has a lower mobility compared to crystalline bulk silicon resulting in a lower speed operation. This patent from Samsung teaches a silicon nanowire on insulator substrate achieving the benefits of SOI but with improved mobility. Claim 1 reads:

1. A silicon nanowire substrate comprising:

a substrate;

an insulating film formed on the substrate in a strip shape such that all side surfaces of the strip shape meet a bottom surface of the strip shape, the insulating film having exposed side surfaces; and

a silicon nanowire film covering an uppermost surface of the insulating film and having sidewalls aligned with the exposed side surfaces of the insulating film, wherein the silicon nanowire film is single crystalline silicon.