Different methods capable of developing complex structures and building elements with high-aspect-ratio nanostructures combined with microstructures, which are of interest in nanophotonics, are presented. As originals for subsequent replication steps, two families of masters were developed: (i) 3.2 μm deep, 180 nm wide trenches were fabricated by silicon cryo-etching and (ii) 9.8 μm high, 350 nm wide ridges were fabricated using 2-photon polymerization direct laser writing. Both emerging technologies enable the vertical smooth sidewalls needed for a successful imprint into thin layers of polymers with aspect ratios exceeding 15. Nanoridges with high aspect ratios of up to 28 and no residual layer were produced in Ormocers using the micromoulding into capillaries (MIMIC) process with subsequent ultraviolet-curing. This work presents and balances the different fabrication routes and the subsequent generation of working tools from masters with inverted tones and the combination of hard and soft materials. This provides these techniques with a proof of concept for their compatibility with high volume manufacturing of complex micro-and nanostructures.Keywords: cryo-etching; direct 6 write laser lithography; high aspect ratio; moulding; nanoimprint lithography; Ormocer; photonic nanofences; 2-photon polymerization
INTRODUCTION
High-aspect-ratio microstructures (HARMS), that is, structures with a large height/width ratio, have found many applications 1,2 such as X-ray gratings 3 , gas chromatography columns 4 , magnetic coils 5 , X-ray telescopes 6 , micro-gears 7 , micro-capacitors with highaspect-ratio (HAR) cantilevers 8 , and micromechanical and microoptical elements 9,10 . These structures exhibit aspect ratios (ARs) of over 10 and almost vertical sidewalls, making them much more challenging to develop than the structures typically used in planar technology with moderate ARs of 1 to 2. They are therefore characterized by an intermediate state between two-and threedimensional (2D and 3D), that is, a 2D planar design that is extended into the vertical dimension and often called . There are several methods to produce HAR structures on typical planar substrates, most of them relying on the anisotropy of subtractive pattern transfer of a low AR masking layer into an underlying resist or substrate, that is, by using mask based ultraviolet (UV)-photolithography (PL) with an AR up to 5, silicon etching (for example, dry etching) with an AR up to 20, and direct write laser lithography (DWL) and X-ray lithography with ARs 420 (Refs. 12-15). These methods are continually being improved to produce a higher AR and smaller lateral dimensions. Furthermore, they are enlarged by new techniques that are often subsets of etching processes with different advantages and disadvantages. One of those challenges is the suitability for submicron and nanopatterning, that is, structures with lateral sizes much smaller than 1 μm and the possibility to combine micro-with nanostructures in the same material.There are three main approaches: (1)...