Fabrication of a 3D stamp with the micro- and nano-scale patterns through combined NIL and optical lithography processes

Nanoimprint lithography is in the spotlight of the nano technology field for its ability to produce large area patterning [1], [2], [4]. This kind of lithography is also able to fabricate three-dimensional functional structures all at once. In order to fabricate three-dimensional structures for an entire wafer, simple fabrication of three-dimensional large area stamp that combines micro- and nano-scale patterns is required. This paper proposes, the fabrication process of three-dimensional large area stamp that incorporates both micro- and nano-scale pattern. The three-dimensional stamp, which accounts for areas that range from 70nm to 3um, is fabricated on a Si substrate using nanoimprint lithography and optical lithography.     

Fabrication of surface reliefs on facets of singlemode optical fibres using nanoimprint lithography

Reported is the fabrication and investigation of surface reliefs on cleaved facets of optical fibres using nanoimprint lithography. The prepared structures are diffractive elements and arrays of holes with sub-wavelength feature sizes. The results obtained indicate that nanoimprint lithography affords opportunity to miniaturise optical devices at low fabrication costs, replacing free-space optical elements     

Fabrication of nano-scaled patterns on ceramic thin films and silicon substrates by soft ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography

Soft ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography is a cost-effective and versatile technique for the transfer of nano-scaled patterns to various surfaces. Here, we report on the fabrication of sub-micron square pillar arrays in epitaxial Ba_0.7Sr_0.3TiO₃ ceramic films, using a combination of nanoimprint lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching techniques. Based on a similar approach we have also succeeded in preparing positive (direct) and negative (inverse) replicas of silicon master molds. Such a generic process could find application in various materials.     

Replication of high ordered nano-sphere array by nanoimprint lithography

High ordered nano-sphere array patterns on Si substrate were fabricated using nanoimprint lithography. First, using hot embossing method, poly vinyl chloride (PVC) based polymer replica template was duplicated from original high ordered nano-sphere array patterns, which was fabricated by evaporation method. The monolayer transferring condition can be achieved by varying hot embossing pressure. Then, through UV nanoimprint lithography with the replicated polymer template, imprinted patterns, which has high ordered nano-sphere array patterns, was successfully fabricated on Si and flexible PET substrate.     

Pattern transfer of nano-scale ferroelectric PZT gratings by a reversal nanoimprint lithography

Nanoscale PZT gratings are successfully transferred to a Pt substrate using reversal nanoimprint technique without any chemical etch processes. The transfer process is preliminarily studied by measuring the surface topography of PZT coated on templates before transferring as well as the transferred patterns on substrates. Piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM) and Raman spectroscopy are used to investigate the transferred PZT nanostructures after annealing. Good ferroelectric and structural properties have been demonstrated by the transferred PZT nanostructures, indicating that this reversal imprint technique is applicable for forming nanoscale PZT domains, which may lead to the manufactures of high density data storage devices at economic cost.     

Fabrication of low-cost mold and nanoimprint lithography using polystyrene nanosphere

The periodic arrays of nanostructure were successfully patterned on Si wafers by ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) using nanosphere lithography (NSL). Two-dimensional (2D) well ordered self-assembled arrays were obtained on Si wafer by using nanosphere and the tilted-drain method. We tried to combine two techniques and hard mold of Si mold for NIL and polymer mold of acrylate-based polymer were fabricated by NSL. The Si master mold and polymer mold were formed by Cr lift-off and ICP-RIE process. The surface has a low surface energy at the interface with 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyl-trichlorosilane (FOTS) vapor-coating, which can eliminate the problem of the adherence to the surface of the mold during demolding. Finally, nanopatterns were formed by UV-NIL, where the residual layer was not observed.     

Fabrication of metallic nanocavities by soft UV nanoimprint lithography

We propose a process combining UV-assisted nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and shadow mask evaporation techniques to fabricate metallic nanoparticles with cavities. A bi-layer transparent soft stamp with a hard top layer containing the high resolution patterns was obtained by spin coating and casting methods of PDMS. Then, it was used to mold the top photo-curable resist on a thick PMMA layer. After removal of the residual NIL resist layer, high density and high aspect ratio PMMA nanopillar arrays were obtained by reactive ion etching. Afterward, a four step evaporation under oblique angle was performed to deposit the gold nanostructures at the top of nanopillars. After lift-off, uniformly sized gold nanocavities were collected. Dark-field microscopy imaging of the fabricated nanocavities shows a clear geometry dependence of the emission peak wavelength, thereby providing a novel types of bio-sensing nano-objects.     

基于纳米压印技术制作的线偏振蓝光LED

提出一种准确计算LED偏振度(PR)的方法,并采用纳米压印技术制作了线偏振蓝光LED。方法考 虑了LED朗伯型发光,计算整个半平面入射光透过光栅的TM模在TE和TM模中所占百分比。详 细分析了光 栅材料、光栅周期、占空比和光栅高度等对PR的影响,结果表明,当Al金属光栅周期为150nm、占空 比为0.5和光栅高为120nm时,PR几乎为1;利用纳米压 印技术结合感应耦合等离子刻蚀技术,制作了 铝金属光栅。实际测试结果表明,将蓝光LED的偏振消光比(P ER)由1．0∶1．0大幅度提高为2.2∶1． 0。     

Fabrication of multi-dimensional colloid crystals on raised surfaces via reversal nanoimprint lithography

Fabrication of multi-dimensional colloidal crystals on raised polymer substrate has been achieved by reversal nanoimprint technique. The combine effects of the feature size of the mold, particle diameter and imprinting steps control ordering of the colloidal particles. It is shown that using ‘Reversal nanoimprint lithography’, 3D colloidal particles can be selectively patterned on soft (polymer) substrates. Reversal nanoimprint lithography offers a relatively easy, fast and versatile method for patterning of colloidal particles.     

Fabrication and characterization of Co-Pt nanodot arrays by nanoimprint lithography and electrodeposition

Co-Pt nanodot arrays of 50 nm in diameter and 100 nm pitch were fabricated by nanoimprint lithography and electrodeposition process. A polymer mold used was replicated from a Si master mold with nanopatterns which were fabricated by EBL and ICP-RIE, where hydrophobic surface of these was achieved by FOTS coating. UV-NIL was successfully performed under pressures of 5 MPa for 5 min with an UV exposure time of 30 s, where the substrate was Ru (30 nm)/NiFe (10 nm)/Ta (5 nm)/Si (1 0 0). The size of patterns was measured at 53 nm in diameter, 25 nm in height, 100 nm in pitch. Finally, Co-Pt nanodot arrays were galvanostatically electrodeposited and characterized. The size and the composition of these arrays were measured to be 50 nm in diameter and 100 nm in pitch and Co-23.6 at.% Pt, respectively. According to MFM analysis, these arrays for the remnant states represent a single domain structure of perpendicular direction with a magnetic field, where a field of 15 kOe was applied perpendicular to the sample plane. These results show that for the Co-Pt dot arrays of 50 nm diameter perpendicular magnetic signal can be recorded and switched.     

Fabrication of nano-scale metallic photonic crystals using interference ablation

We demonstrate the fabrication and characterization of large area metallic photonic crystals (MPCs) in the form of gold nano-island grating structures. The spectroscopic properties of the MPCs characterized by the angle-resolved optical extinction spectrum measurements show strong couplings between the waveguide resonance modes and the particle plasmon resonance of the gold nanostructures, indicating the success of this fabrication method. The excellent optical responses of the nano-island MPCs with the advantages of large-area fabrication, low cost, and high speed make it show potential applications in optoelectronic devices and sensors.     

Fabrication and optical properties of photonic crystals based on opal-GaP and opal-GaPN composites

Nanocrystalline GaP and amorphous GaPN solid solution have been synthesized in voids of artificial opal. The opal-GaP and opal-GaPN composites obtained clearly demonstrate properties of photonic crystals. The reflection spectra of the opal-GaPN composite exhibit specific features related to multiple Bragg diffraction on two systems of {111} planes, parallel and nonparallel to the surface of the photonic crystal. The study of photoluminescence spectra revealed a considerable modification of the emission band of the opal-GaPN composite, which was attributed to the influence of the photonic band gap.     

Fabrication of sub-micron high aspect ratio diamond structures with nanoimprint lithography

Polycrystalline diamond with optical quality has been patterned using nanoimprint lithography. Nanoimprint lithography is a rather new method for fabrication of resist structures with features sizes down to at least 20 nm. The pattern used in this article is a grating with a period of 600 nm and a fill factor of 0.5. Using plasma etching the nanoimprinted grating is etched into a freestanding diamond substrate. We have accomplished the fabrication of 300 nm diamond features with a depth of about 2 μm, which corresponds to an aspect ratio of 7.     

Fabrication of magnetic micro- and nanostructures by scanning probe lithography

Planar magnetic structures based on cobalt nanofilms have been obtained by scanning probe lithography. It has been shown that ferromagnetic nanoparticles with different domain structures can be formed by local oxidation of a cobalt film on a graphite substrate with the use of a conductive probe of an atomic force microscope (AFM). Using AFM nanoengraving of polymethylmethacrylate, masks were formed to obtain microcontact pads connected by cobalt nanowires with a width of 250–1400 nm and a thickness of 10–30 nm on the silicon dioxide surface. The topography and magnetization structure of the obtained samples were controlled by atomic and magnetic force microscopy.     

Fabrication and characterization of bilayer metal wire-grid polarizer using nanoimprint lithography on flexible plastic substrate

In this work, we demonstrate the fabrication of bilayer metal wire-grid polarizers and the characterization of their performance. The polarizers with 200 nm period were fabricated on flexible plastic substrates by nanoimprint lithography (NIL), followed by aluminum deposition. Transmission efficiency over 0.51 and extinction ratio higher than 950 can be achieved in the visible range when the aluminum thickness of the polarizer is 100 nm. The fabrication process only involves direct imprinting on flexible plastic substrates and aluminum deposition, without any resist spin-coating, lift-off, and etching processes, which is much simpler, less costly, and applicable to large volume production.     

新型挤压法制备硫系玻璃光纤及其性能研究

选用组分为Ge15Sb20S65和Ge25Sb5Se70的两组硫系玻璃,制备了多种尺寸的高质量硫系玻璃,分析了两组玻璃的物理、热学和光学性能;利用复合层叠挤压法制备了硫系玻璃光纤预制棒,避免了钻孔法或其他机械加工引起的预制棒界面缺陷,且光纤端面结构可随模具尺寸自由设计,挤压后光纤预制棒结构整齐,内外界面整洁光滑;利用高温聚合物保护的预制棒具有良好的机械性能,用光纤拉丝机将具有保护层的预制棒拉制成光纤;利用普通光纤抛光机进行端面抛光,光纤端面结构均匀,界面无明显缺陷。傅里叶红外光纤光谱仪(FTIR)测试光纤损耗谱表明,在波长4.8μm处光纤的最低损耗为2.63dB/m。     

Optimization and experimentation of nanoimprint lithography based on FIB fabricated stamp

The maskless and resistless focused ion beam (FIB) fabrication approach to make imprint stamp is straightforward and rapid compared to the traditional electron beam method. FIB etched stamp consisting of grooves was employed to nanoimprint polymer mr-I 9020. Taguchi orthogonal experiment with four parameter elements, one at three levels was used to optimize the experiment parameters by the analysis of means and variances. The most significant factor influencing the height of replicated lines is imprint temperature and the optimal combination of the process parameters are the imprint temperature at 160 °C, imprint force at 1200 N, loading force velocity at 0.2 mm/min, and imprint time at 300 s.     

Fabrication of arrays of carbon micro- and nanostructures via electrochemical etching

New methods to pattern and etch a variety of materials are proving to be extremely important owing to the broad impact of microfabrication technology on chemistry and biology. A method, for etching graphitic carbon materials that opens pathways for the creation of arrays of carbon structures, has been developed. The method involves standard photolithographic pattern transfers to a thin carbon film and anodisation of the exposed carbon substrate in basic electrolytes. Structures of various shapes can be fabricated that range in size from tens of microns to submicrons. Arrays of these structures can be fabricated over areas encompassing hundreds of microns with low failure rates. The shape, size and distance between array objects are easily controlled by the fabrication procedure. Scanning electron microscopy is used to visualise the various structures fabricated. The authors show that this technology is useful for the fabrication of microelectrode arrays.     

Current status of micro- and nano-structured optical fiber sensors

Recently developed micro- and nano-structured optical fiber sensors, with particular reference to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) fiber sensors and photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensors are reviewed. SPR fiber sensors can have diverse structures such as D-shape, cladding-off, fiber tip or tapered fiber structures. Some of the recently developed novel structures include the use of various types of fiber gratings in SPR fiber sensors. PCF sensors cover diverse recent developments on photonic-bandgap fiber, holey fiber, hole-assisted fiber and Bragg fiber sensors. Major applications of these include gas sensors and bio-sensors. These micro- and nano-structured fiber sensors have attracted considerable research and development interest, because of their distinct advantages, which include high sensitivity, small sensor head footprint and the flexibility of the optical fibers. They are also of academic interest, and many novel ideas are continuously developed.     

Fabrication of large-area nano-scale patterned sapphire substrate with laser interference lithography

Periodic triangle truncated pyramid arrays are successfully fabricated on the sapphire substrate by a low-cost and high-efficiency laser interference lithography（LIL）system.Through the combination of dry etching and wet etching techniques,the nano-scale patterned sapphire substrate（NPSS）with uniform size is prepared.The period of the patterns is 460 nm as designed to match the wavelength of blue light emitting diode（LED）.By improving the stability of the LIL system and optimizing the process parameters,well-defined triangle truncated pyramid arrays can be achieved on the sapphire substrate with diameter of 50.8 mm.The deviation of the bottom width of the triangle truncated pyramid arrays is 6.8%,which is close to the industrial production level of 3%.