Patent ID: 7008853

Claim:
A method for fabricating free-standing nanostructures, comprising: providing a semiconductor wafer comprising a substrate and a patterned layer above the substrate, the patterned layer comprising a plurality of openings extending from an upper surface of the patterned layer to an upper surface of the substrate, and structural elements being arranged within the openings; providing a process chamber, the process chamber being configured to receive the semiconductor wafer; introducing the semiconductor wafer into the process chamber; injecting an etching chemistry into the process chamber to etch the patterned layer and to release the structural elements as free-standing nanostructures on the semiconductor wafer, the etching chemistry comprising a carbon dioxide fluid and an etching solution; rinsing the semiconductor wafer by flooding a carbon dioxide fluid into the process chamber; and drying the semiconductor wafer by injecting a supercritical carbon dioxide fluid into the process chamber and by venting out the supercritical carbon dioxide fluid from the process chamber.