Combining thermal scanning probe lithography and dry etching for grayscale nanopattern amplification.

ABSTRACT: Grayscale structured surfaces with nanometer-scale features are used in a growing number of applications in optics and fluidics. Thermal scanning probe lithography achieves a lateral resolution below 10 nm and a vertical resolution below 1 nm, but its maximum depth in polymers is limited. Here, we present an innovative combination of nanowriting in thermal resist and plasma dry etching with substrate cooling, which achieves up to 10-fold amplification of polymer nanopatterns into SiO₂ without proportionally increasing surface roughness. Sinusoidal nanopatterns in SiO₂ with 400 nm pitch and 150 nm depth are fabricated free of shape distortion after dry etching. To exemplify the possible applications of the proposed method, grayscale dielectric nanostructures are used f

SUBMITTER: Erbas B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10891065 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature