ABSTRACT
Nanostructuring of materials is a basic topic in today’s research, such as material science, physics, chemistry, or biology. Low-dimensional systems are not only of interest due to miniaturization and the utilization in integrated devices but also because of their arising novel properties. Nanostructuring of semiconductors and especially silicon can lead to on-chip applications that are appropriate for today’s microtechnology not only because of the small dimensions but also because of the changed physical properties of materials compared with their bulk behavior. Three-dimensional nanostructured systems also enable their utilization as templates for the incorporation of various materials to achieve new nanocomposites with specific properties. This chapter reviews the use of nanostructured semiconductors as host substrate, especially for the deposition of various materials. The incorporated or attached materials can be metals, magnetic materials, polymers, and also molecules for biological sensing applications. The incorporation of magnetic materials into nanostructured silicon results in a semiconducting/magnetic system offering the properties of both materials which are determined by their nanoscale sizes. Nanostructuring of a semiconductor can be achieved by patterning methods such as lithography or ion beam irradiation as well as by self-organized processes, especially chemical etching. In the following, wet etching, namely anodization, will be mainly discussed.
