Method for fabricating vertically stacked nanowires for semiconductor applications

A method of forming nanowire structures on a substrate comprising:

• etching a substrate having a multi-material layer disposed thereon in a first processing chamber, wherein the multi-material layer includes repeating pairs of a first layer and a second layer formed on the substrate, and wherein a portion of the multi-material layer is exposed by openings defined by a patterned hardmask layer for etching until sidewalls of the first and the second layer of the multi-material layer are exposed, the multi-material layer having a first end coupled to a first side surface of a source anchor and a second end coupled to a second side surface of a drain anchor, the first and the second side surfaces of the source and the drain anchors longitudinally formed along two sides of the substrate respectively and circumscribing the substrate from the two sides;
• and
• laterally and selectively etching the second layer from the substrate in a second processing chamber without breaking vacuum, wherein the first and the second processing chamber are incorporated in a single vacuum processing system.

A method of forming nanowire structures on a substrate comprising:

• etching a substrate having a multi-material layer disposed thereon, wherein the multi-material layer includes repeating pairs of a first layer and a second layer, and wherein a portion of the multi-material layer is exposed by openings defined by a patterned hardmask layer for etching until sidewalls of the first and the second layer of the multi-material layer are exposed, the multi-material layer having a first end coupled to a first side surface of a source anchor and a second end coupled to a second side surface of a drain anchor, the first and the second side surfaces of the source and the drain anchors longitudinally formed along two sides of the substrate respectively and circumscribing the substrate from the two sides;
• and
• laterally and selectively etching the second layer from the substrate by a remote plasma source including a hydrocarbon containing gas and at least one of N2, O2, or H2 gas.