| abstract |
The present invention relates to electrically active devices (eg, capacitors, transistors, diodes, floating gate memory cells, etc.) and semiconductors having dielectric, conductor and / or semiconductor layers having a smooth and / or dome-shaped cross section; A method of forming such devices is by depositing or printing (eg inkjet printing) an ink composition comprising a metal or dielectric precursor. Smooth and / or dome-shaped longitudinal sections allow smooth topographical changes without sharp steps, preventing feature cracking during deposition and subsequently permitting more complete step coverage of the deposited structures. The cross section of the present invention allows for uniform growth of oxide layers by thermal oxidation and substantially uniform etching rates of structures. Such oxide layers can have a uniform thickness and can provide a substantially perfect coverage of underlying electrically active features. Uniform etching allows an effective way to reduce the critical dimensions of the electrically active structure by simple isotropic etching. |