Friction-Induced Nanofabrication: A Review

Abstract

As the bridge between basic principles and applications of nanotechnology, nanofabrication methods play significant role in supporting the development of nanoscale science and engineering, which is changing and improving the production and lifestyle of the human. Photo lithography and other alternative technologies, such as nanoimprinting, electron beam lithography, focused ion beam cutting, and scanning probe lithography, have brought great progress of semiconductor industry, IC manufacturing and micro/nanoelectromechanical system (MEMS/NEMS) devices. However, there remains a lot of challenges, relating to the resolution, cost, speed, and so on, in realizing high-quality products with further development of nanotechnology. None of the existing techniques can satisfy all the needs in nanoscience and nanotechnology at the same time, and it is essential to explore new nanofabrication methods. As a newly developed scanning probe microscope (SPM)-based lithography, friction-induced nanofabrication provides opportunities for maskless, flexible, low-damage, low-cost and environment-friendly processing on a wide variety of materials, including silicon, quartz, glass surfaces, and so on. It has been proved that this fabrication route provides with a broad application prospect in the fabrication of nanoimprint templates, microfluidic devices, and micro/nano optical structures. This paper hereby involved the principals and operations of friction-induced nanofabrication, including friction-induced selective etching, and the applications were reviewed as well for looking ahead at opportunities and challenges with nanotechnology development. The present review will not only enrich the knowledge in nanotribology, but also plays a positive role in promoting SPM-based nanofabrication.

Temperature-Dependent Friction-Induced Surface Amorphization Mechanism of Crystal Silicon

“…Friction-induced surface amorphization of silicon materials is a common form of surface damage, which to some extent alters the performance of silicon, such as its hardness and thermal/chemical stability, leading to a significant impact on friction/wear properties. , In recent years, researchers have carried our studies on the friction-induced amorphization behavior − including its influencing factors; − we found that the influence mechanism of temperature, one of the most important factors during the friction process, on this amorphization process in silicon remains unclear until now. This is due to the complexity introduced by the involvement of temperature, where it is no longer the sole variable, rendering the study challenging and the underlying mechanism uncertain.…”

Nanoscratch-induced formation of metallic micro/nanostructures with resin masks

“…An alternative way is to pattern the self-assembled film-coated surface for metal deposition [ 16 ], while the chemically bonded film on Si surface makes it difficult to penetrate the mask by scratching [ 22 ]. In addition, the pre-scratching on Si substrates can easily induce the tip wear [ 23 ]. Therefore, a mask that can resist against the solution composition and be easily penetrated by the tip scratching is crucial for the solution-based preparation of metallic micro/nanostructures.…”

Burger Model as the Best Option for Modeling of Viscoelastic Behavior of Resists for Nanoimprint Lithography

“…As the manufacturing method is exceptionally important in the fabrication of microand nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS), lithography offers various subtypes [2]. Among them, being cost-and time-effective nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is pronounced [3].…”