Fabrication of hemispherical cavity arrays on silicon substrates using laser-assisted nanoimprinting of self-assembled particles

Abstract

A new approach to fabricating hemispherical cavity arrays on silicon (Si) substrate using laser-assisted nanoimprinting of self-assembled particles is presented. A monolayer of silica particles, with different diameters of 0.30 and 0.97 µm, was deposited on a Si substrate by self-assembly. A quartz plate was tightly placed on the sample surface to firmly sandwich the self-assembled nanoparticle monolayer. The silica particles were imprinted into Si substrates after laser irradiation (KrF excimer laser, λ = 248 nm) on the quartz/nanoparticle/Si structure with a single pulse. Ultrasonic cleaning and hydrofluoric acid (HF) solution were used to remove the silica particles in the sample surface. Hemispherical cavities were formed on the substrate surface. The influence of laser fluence and particle size on the structuring of the surface has been investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were performed to observe the dimensions of the cavities. One-dimensional thermal calculation was employed to calculate the thermal effects in this process.

Application of two-dimensional polystyrene arrays in the fabrication of ordered silicon pillars

“…As an alternative route, nanosphere lithography has recently attracted great attention due to the simple and inexpensive process [4][5][6]. In this technique the submicron latex particles self-organized into hexagonal pattern, which was used as template to create ordered 2D array of desired materials [7][8][9]. Zhu et al [8] fabricated ultrahigh-density arrays of ferromagnetic nanorings on macroscopic areas and interesting properties were observed.…”

Ordered nanostructures array fabricated by nanosphere lithography

“…The base pressure was 4 × 10 −5 Pa and the argon pressure was 0.4 Pa during deposition. Ar was used to etch Co and CF 4 …”

“…In this process the latex particles self-organized into ordered pattern first, and then 2D array was obtain by depositing the desired material onto the ordered colloidals [4][5][6]. Bartlett et al prepared highly ordered, 3D macroporous magnetic networks based on the polystyrene template and the results revealed the higher coercivity and irreversible field than non-templated samples of the same film [7].…”

Fabrication of tunable pore size of nickel membranes by electrodeposition on colloidal monolayer template

“…Thus, nanosphere lithography (NSL) has recently attracted attention for the fabrication of ordered nanostructures over large areas [7,8]. In this process, the latex particles self-organize into an ordered pattern, and then the desired materials are deposited onto the ordered colloidal spheres to obtaina 2D arrays [9,10].…”