  Nowadays, microelectronics and nanoelectronics require the search for new
materials, including masks for creating structures. Today, the intermediate
hard mask strategy is one of the key issues in achieving a good balance between
lithography and etching at the microelectronic fabrication. One of the
interesting challenges in microelectronics and photovoltaics is the creation of
interspacing, vertically oriented silicon arrays on Si substrate for
semiconductor devices with multi-function. The fabrication of such structures
is still a serious technological problem and requires searching for new
approaches and materials. In this work, we propose using scandium as a new hard
mask material over silicon due to its high resistance to plasma chemical
etching and low sputtering coefficient. We have shown that a wet etching of the
scandium layer with a thickness of several nanometers can be used to obtain
pattern structures with a resolution of up to 4 microns, which is a good result
for the wet etching approach. Scandium metal was found to be an excellent
resistant mask over silicon under the selected plasma etching conditions.
Therefore, a scandium hard mask can open up new possibilities for the formation
of different microscale topographical patterns.
