We report that the diffraction limit of conventional optical lithography can be overcome by exploiting the transitions of organic photochromic derivatives induced by their photoisomerization at low light intensities.1-3 This paper outlines our fabrication technique and two locking mechanisms, namely: dissolution of one photoisomer and electrochemical oxidation.
This protocol describes the fabrication and characterization of nanostructures using a novel nanolithographic technique called Patterning via Optical Saturable Transitions (POST). In this technique the chemical properties of organic photochromic molecules that undergo single-photon reactions are exploited, enabling rapid top-down nanopatterning over large areas at low light intensities, thereby, allowing for the circumvention of the far-field diffraction barrier.4 Simple, cost-effective, high throughput and resolution alternatives to nanopatterning are being explored, such as, two-photon polymerization5,6, beam pen lithography (BPL)7, scanning electron beam lithography (SEBL), and focused ion beam (FIB) patterning. However, multi-photon approaches require high light intensities, which limit their potential for high throughput and offer low image contrast. Although, electron and ion beam lithographic processes offer increased resolution, the serial nature of the process is limited to slow writing speeds, which also prevents patterning of features over large areas. Beam-pen lithography is an approach towards parallel near-field optical lithography. However, the gap between the source of the beam and the surface of the photoresist needs to be controlled extremely precisely for good pattern uniformity and this is very challenging to accomplish for large arrays of beams. Patterning via Optical Saturable Transitions (POST) is an alternative optical nanopatterning technique for patterning sub-wavelength features1-3. Since this technique uses single photons instead of electrons, it is extremely fast and does not require high light intensities1-3, opening the door to massive parallelization.
Optik litografi nano ölçekli yapıları ve cihazların üretiminde kilit öneme sahiptir. Yeni litografi teknikleri artan gelişmeler yeni cihazların yeni nesillere sağlamak için yeteneğine sahiptir. 8-11 Bu makalede, bir yorum, yeni photoswitchable molekülleri kullanılarak derin alt dalga boyu çözünürlük elde optik litografi teknikleri bir sınıfın sunulmaktadır. Bu yaklaşım, Optik-Doyurulabilen Geçişleri (POST) üzerinden Desenlendirme denir. 1-3
POST benzersiz özel olarak ise, (1,2-bis (5,5'-dimetil-2,2'-bitiofen-il)) fotokromık moleküllerin optik geçişlerin saturasyon fikirleri birleştiren yeni bir nano sentezleme tekniği perfluorocyclopent-1-en olup. Halk arasında, bu bileşik, bu larg için güçlü bir araç yapar parazit litografi ile, örneğin uyarılmış emisyon deliği (STED'in) mikroskopi 12 kullanılanlar gibi BTE, Şekil 1, olarak adlandırılır2- ve 3-boyutlarına potansiyel uzantılı çeşitli yüzeyler üzerine derin subwavelength özellikleri e alan paralel nanopatterning.
fotokromik tabaka aslında bir homojen devlet. Bu tabaka, λ 1 üniform bir aydınlatma maruz kaldığında, ikinci izomerik durum (1c), Şekil 2'de dönüştürür. Daha sonra numune ilk olarak izomerik duruma örnek (dönüştürür λ 2, bir odaklanmış düğüm maruz 1o) her yerde düğümün yakın çevresinde dışında. Maruz kalma dozunu kontrol ederek, dönüştürülmemiş bölgesinin boyutu isteğe bağlı olarak küçük yapılabilir. Izomerlerden biri bir sonraki tespit adımı, ve geri dönüşü olmayan bir desen kilitlemek için (siyah) bir 3. durumuna (kilitli) dönüştürülebilir. Sonraki katman özgün durumuna kilitli bölgesi hariç her şeyi dönüştürür λ 1, muntazam maruz kalmaktadır.adımların sırası, aralarındaki mesafenin uzak-alan kırınım sınırından daha küçük olan iki kilitli bölgede elde edilen, optik numunenin bir yer değiştirme ile tekrar edilebilir. Bu nedenle, her hangi keyfi bir geometri "dot-matrix" bir şekilde paternli olabilir. 1-3
The fabrication, experimental setup and related operational procedures of Patterning via Optical Saturable Transitions (POST) have been described. By exploiting the linear switching properties of thermally stable photochromic molecules, POST offers new perspectives on circumventing the far-field diffraction limit.1-2,4
Previously long-term storage requirement of the samples was solved by storing the samples under N2, directly after the initial evaporation.2 How…
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Thanks to Michael Knutson, Paul Hamric, Greg Scott, and Chris Landes for helpful discussions and assistance related to the custom inert atmosphere sample holder and assistance in the University of Utah student machine shop. P.C. acknowledges the NSF GRFP under Grant No. 0750758. P.C. acknowledges the University of Utah Nanotechnology Training Fellowship. R.M. acknowledges a NSF CAREER Award No. 1054899 and funding from the USTAR Initiative.
Name of Material/ Equipment | Company | Catalog Number | Comments/Description |
Isopropanol | Fisher Scientific | P/7500/15 | CAUTION: flammable, use good ventilation and avoid all ignition sources. |
Buffered Oxide Etch | |||
Methanol | Ricca Chemical | 48-293-2 | CAUTION: flammable, use good ventilation and avoid all ignition sources. |
Ethylene Glycol | Sigma-Aldrich | 324558 | CAUTION: Harmful if swallowed |
Silicon wafer | |||
Diamond Scribe | |||
Glass Beakers | |||
Tweezers | Ted Pella | 5226 | |
Reactive Ion Etching System | Oxford | Plasma Lab 80 Plus | |
Inert Atmosphere Sample Holder | Proprietary In-house Designed | ||
Polarizing beamsplitter cube | Thorlabs | PBS052 | |
HeNe Laser | Melles Griot | 25-LHP-171 | CAUTION: Wear safety glasses |
Half-wave plates | Thorlabs | WPH05M-633 | |
Thermal Evaporator | Proprietary In-house Designed | ||
TMV Super | TM Vacuum Products | TMV Super | |
Voltammograph | Bioanalytical Systems | CV-37 | |
Shortwave UV lamp 365nm | UVP Analytik Jena Company | UVGL-25 | CAUTION: Wear UV safety glasses |