Polymer photonic band-gaps fabricated by nanoimprint lithography

We report on the fabrication and characterization of photonic band-gaps structures by nanoimprint lithography in a dye-doped polymer. Photonic band calculations show that photonic crystal slabs composed of a triangular array of polymer pillars could exhibit photonic band-gaps for the magnetic-like modes. The resulting structures show that the nanoimprint lithography process is well-suited to fabricate in a single-step process, these challenging photonic structures opening perspectives to realize integrated photonic band-gap circuits.     

One-kilobit cross-bar molecular memory circuits at 30-nm half-pitch fabricated by nanoimprint lithography

We have developed a process to fabricate a cross-bar structure using UV-curable nanoimprint lithography with a UV-curable double-layer spin-on resist, metal lift off and Langmuir–Blodgett film deposition. This process allowed us to produce 1-kbit cross-bar memory circuits at 30-nm half-pitch on both top and bottom electrodes. Read, write, erase and cross talking were also investigated. PACS 85.40.Hp; 81.07.-b; 81.16.Nd; 85.65.+h     

Fabrication of molecular-electronic circuits by nanoimprint lithography at low temperatures and pressures

We have utilized a modified version of thermal nanoimprint lithography to fabricate a rewritable, nonvolatile, molecular memory device with a density of 6.4 Gbit/cm². It has the advantages of a relatively low operating temperature of (70 °C) and pressure of (<500 psi or 4.5 MPa), both of which are critical to preserving the integrity of the molecular layer. The architecture of the circuit was based on an 8×8 crossbar structure, with an active molecular layer sandwiched between the top and bottom electrodes. A liftoff process was utilized to produce the top and bottom electrodes made of Pt/Ti bilayers. The active molecular layer was deposited by the Languir–Blodgett technique. We utilized a new class of nanoimprint resist formulated by dissolving a polymer in its monomer. The formulation we used, was poly(benzyl methacrylate), dissolved in benzyl methacrylate with t-butyl peroxy 2-ethylhexanoate added as a self-initiator (8:90:2 by weight). The new resist allowed us to achieve Pt/Ti lines of 40 nm in width and 130 nm in pitch. PACS 86.65.+h; 81.16.Nd; 81.16.Rf     

Optical Magnus effect in metamaterials fabricated from ferromagnetic microwires

In homogeneous negative phase velocity media, the Doppler and Cherenkov-Vavilov effects and the refraction and pressure of light are anomalous: they are inverse with respect to the corresponding effects in conventional media. Using the geometrical optics approximation, it is shown that the optical Magnus effect in inhomogeneous negative phase velocity media is also anomalous. The effect is demonstrated by considering a metamaterial consisting of parallel amorphous ferromagnetic microwires in a magnetic field. The metamaterial proves to be a left-handed one in the realistic region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The optical properties of such a left-handed medium can be controlled by the external magnetic field.     

Plasmonic color pixels fabricated by nanoimprint process

Optical Review - Plasmonic nanostructures or metasurfaces have recently been actively researched for structural color generation. Controlling the plasmonic resonant wavelengths of surface plasmon...     

Nano-image profiles transferred by near field phase-shifting lithography precisely simulated by finite element method and fabricated

The operating frequency of the SAW filters is limited by the gap width but not the line width. The narrow gap width is required for the high operating frequency SAW filters. Therefore, in this study, high precision nano-image profiles transferred by near field phase-shifting mask (NFPSM) lithography at various exposure-energy-intensities (EEIs) are simulated by the finite element method (FEM). The transferred energy-intensity distribution (TEID) in the photoresist during the NFPSM process (at the wavelength of 248 nm) can be accurately simulated by the FEM. The TEID at the interface between the mask and the photoresist is also simulated. The fabricated pattern widths clearly match the simulation results. The study of the simulated image profiles shows that they are dependent on the EEI. The greater the EEI is, the narrower the width and the shorter the height of the image profile. The nano-linewidth of 60 nm is simulated and fabricated. The fabricated nano-imaging profile precisely fits the simulation results. Therefore, any expected nano-image profile can easily be fabricated by way of the simulation.     

Negative refraction in semiconductor metamaterials based on quantum cascade laser design for the mid-IR and THz spectral range

We have considered the realization of metamaterials based on semiconductor quantum nanostructures, in particular, with the structural arrangement as in quantum cascade laser (QCL) designed to achieve optical gain in the mid-infrared and terahertz part of the spectrum. The entire structure is placed in a strong external magnetic field, which facilitates the attainment of sufficient population inversion, necessary to manipulate the permittivity, and enable a left-handed regime.     

Flexible subwavelength gratings fabricated by reversal soft UV nanoimprint

We present a replication process, named reversal soft ultraviolet (UV) nanoimprint, to fabricate a high- aspect-ratio flexible subwavelength grating (SWG) on a polyurethane acrylate (PUA). This nanopatterning technique consists of casting, reversal UV imprint, and dry release. The UV curing process of PUA to avoid pattern collapse is investigated. Revalpha film acts as the supporting and sacrificial layer during the whole process due to its special surface energy property. The free-standing PUA structures with a period of 200 nm and a depth of 350 nm can be automatically released from the Revalpha film by heating. The PUA resist is well suited to replicate fine patterns of the mold with high aspect ratio and large area precisely and uniformly for low surface energy and low viscosity. The measured transmittance is compared with the calculation results based on rigorous coupled-wave analysis in the wavelength region ranging from 500 to 800 nm. The experimental results agree well with the theoretical calculations.     

Dual-band left-handed metamaterials fabricated by using tree-shaped fractal

<正>A method of fabricating dual-band left-handed metematerials(LHMs) is investigated numerically and experimentally by single-sided tree-like fractals.The resulting structure features multiband magnetic resonances and two electric resonances.By appropriately adjusting the dimensions,two left-handed(LH) bands with simultaneous negative permittivity and permeability are engineered and are validated by full-wave eigenmode analysis and measurement as well in the microwave frequency range.To study the multi-resonant mechanism in depth,the LHM is analysed from three different perspectives of field distribution analysis,circuit model analysis,and geometrical parameters evaluation.The derived formulae are consistent with all simulated results and resulting electromagnetic phenomena,indicating the effectiveness of the established theory.The method provides an alternative to the design of multi-band LHM and has the advantage of not requiring two individual resonant particles and electrically continuous wires,which in turn facilitates planar design and considerably simplifies the fabrication.     

Confinement-induced nanocrystal alignment of conjugated polymer by the soft-stamped nanoimprint lithography

Soft-stamped nanoimprint lithography(NIL) is considered as one of the most effective processes of nanoscale patterning because of its low cost and high throughput. In this work, this method is used to emboss the poly(9, 9-dioctylfluorene)film. By reducing the linewidth of the nanogratings on the stamp, the orientations of nanocrystals are confined along the grating vector in the nanoimprint process, where the confinement linewidth is comparable to the geometrical size of the nanocrystal. When the linewidth is about 400 nm, the poly(9, 9-dioctylfluorene)(PFO) nanocrystals could be orderly arranged in the nanogratings, so that both pattern transfer and well-aligned nanocrystal arrangement could be achieved in a single step by the soft-stamped NIL. The relevant mechanism of the nanocrystalline alignment in these nanogratings is fully discussed. The modulation of nanocrystal alignment is of benefit to the charge mobilities and other performances of PFO-based devices for the future applications.     

Computer-generated hologram fabricated by electron-beam lithography for noise reduction

A Lohmann-type computer-generated hologram (CGH) is fabricated using an electron-beam lithographic system. A high-resolution groove width of 0.2 μm is attained in relief gratings by changing the e-beam exposures. A diffraction efficiency close to ∼30.4% is obtained by using resist-on-silicon recording materials and cell-structural apertures in a CGH. The reconstructed images exhibit fewer phase noises owing to the incorporation of a non-overflow cell structure into a CGH. The CGH is designed for reconstruction-noise reduction by using an iterative error-reduction algorithm. The designed CGH exhibits fewer reconstruction noises such that the performance function in the convergence is smaller by a factor of 1/3 than that in the first iteration. Experiments demonstrating the performance of CGHs obtained by electron-beam lithography are presented.     

Microlens arrays of high-refractive-index glass fabricated by femtosecond laser lithography

Microlens arrays of high-refractive-index glass GeO₂-SiO₂ were fabricated by femtosecond laser lithography assisted micromachining. GeO₂-SiO₂ thin glass films, which were deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, have a refractive index of 1.4902 and exhibit high transparency at wavelengths longer than 320 nm. Using a femtosecond laser, three-dimensional patterns were written inside resists on GeO₂-SiO₂ films, and then the patterns were transferred to the underlying films by CHF₃ and O₂ plasma treatments. This combined process enabled us to obtain uniform microlens structures with a diameter of 38 μm. The heights of the transferred lenses were approximately one-quarter the height of the resist patterns, due to differences in the plasma etching rates between GeO₂-SiO₂ and the resist. The lens surfaces were smooth. When 632.8-nm-wavelength He-Ne laser light was normally coupled to the lenses, focal spots with a diameter of 3.0 μm were uniformly observed. The combined process was effective in fabricating three-dimensional surfaces of inorganic optical materials.     

Optimization of thickness and uniformity of photonic structures fabricated by interference lithography

We study the influence of the absorption of materials used for holographic fabrication of photonic structures on their uniformity along the film thickness. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally a strong dependence of structure thickness and uniformity on the exposure dose of the interference pattern. A novel technique is proposed to overcome the absorption effect and to fabricate thick two- and three-dimensional structures, which are uniform throughout the film thickness. It consists of exposing once again the sample by an additional and independent counterpropagating uniform beam, which allows to compensate the diminution of the light intensity of interference pattern. These results are very useful for the fabrication of high quality polymer-based photonic crystals.     

Surface adhesion and demolding force dependence on resist composition in ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography

Demolding, the process to separate stamp from molded resist, is most critical to the success of ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL). In the present study we investigated adhesion and demolding force in UV-NIL for different compositions of a model UV-curable resist system containing a base (either tripropyleneglycol diacrylate with shorter oligomer length or polypropyleneglycol diacrylate with longer oligomer length), a cross-linking agent (trimethylolpropane triacrylate) and a photoinitiator (Irgacure 651). The demolding force was measured using a tensile test machine with homemade fixtures after imprinting the UV resist on a silicon stamp. While decreasing the cross-linking agent content from 49 to 0 wt% has little effect on the resist surface energy, it reduces the resist's elastic modulus drastically. The decrease in elastic modulus results in a decreased adhesion force at the resist/stamp interface thereby facilitating the demolding. The decrease in elastic modulus and, therefore, demolding force by lowering the cross-linking agent content was markedly less pronounced in tripropyleneglycol diacrylate-based resists due to its shorter oligomer length. These general findings will be useful in designing new resists for UV-NIL process.     

Microtags with 150-nm line gratings fabricated by use of extreme-ultraviolet lithography

The microtag concept is an anticounterfeiting and security measure. Microtags are computer-generated holograms (CGH's) consisting of 150-nm lines arranged to form 300-nm-period gratings. The microtags that we describe were designed for readout at 442nm . The smallest microtag measures 56micromx80 microm when viewed at normal incidence. The CGH design process uses a modified iterative Fourier-transform algorithm to create either phase-only or phase-and-amplitude microtags. We also report on a simple and compact readout system for recording the diffraction pattern formed by a microtag. The measured diffraction patterns agree very well with predictions.     

Two-dimensional DFB laser fabricated on dye-doped hybrid zirconia film by soft lithography

A two-dimensional(2D) distributed feedback(DFB) structure is fabricated on dye-doped sol-gel derived hybrid zirconia films by soft lithography.The Q-switched Nd:YAG laser(λ = 532 nm) is used to pump these structures.The lasing emissions of the gain medium doped with Rhodamine 6G(Rh6G) in two perpendicular directions are shown,and the threshold pump energy is measured.     

Plasmonic properties of two-dimensional metallic nanoholes fabricated by focused ion beam lithography

Plasmonic metallic nanoholes are widely used to focus or image in the nanoscale field. In this article, we present the results of the design, fabrication, and plasmonic properties of a two-dimensional metallic pentagram nanohole array. The nanoholes can excite the extraordinary transmission phenomenon. We used the finite-difference time-domain method to design the transmission and the localized surface plasmon resonance electric field distribution in the near field. The focused ion beam method was used to fabricate the nanoholes. The transmittance in the far field was measured by a scanning spectrophotometer. The difference between the design and the experimental results may be caused by the conversion between the near field and the far field. The near field electric field distribution on the surface plasmonic nanoholes was measured by a near-field scanning optical microscope. From our results, we found that the maximum transmission of the nanoholes is 2.4. Therefore, our plasmonic nanohole can significantly enhance the transmission by exciting the plasmonic phenomenon on the surface of the nanostructures.