Influence of sphere-surface distance and exposure dose on resolution of sphere-lens-array lithography

Achieving high aspect ratio in plasmonic lithography for practical applications with sub-20 nm half pitch

Plasmonic lithography, which exploits a bowtie nanoaperture (BNA) for the purpose of subwavelength near-field focusing, has the capability of high-resolution patterning. However, the ultra-small feature size is achieved at the price of sharply decay of the surface plasmon waves (SPWs) in the photoresist (PR) layer, which directly leads to some unfavorable patterning issues, such as non-uniformity and shallow pattern depth even over small exposure areas. In this work, a special hybrid plasmonic waveguide (HPW) patterning system, which is composed of the plasmonic BNA-PR layer-silver reflector, is designed to facilitate high spatial frequency selection and amplify the evanescent field in the PR layer. Theoretical calculations indicate that the antisymmetric coupled SPWs and plasmonic waveguide modes excited by the HPW structure can remove the exponential decay and ensure uniform exposure over the entire depth of the PR layer. Importantly, the hyperbolic decaying characteristic of the SPWs in the PR layer plays a noticeable role in the improvement of achievable resolution, depth-of-field, and line array pattern profile. It is worth to note that the uniform periodic patterns in sub-20 nm feature can be achieved with high aspect ratio. Additionally, further numerical simulation results are presented to demonstrate the achievement of spatial frequency selection of high-k mode in HPW structure by controlling the PR thickness and gap size. Our findings may provide a new perspective on the manufacture of surface nanostructures and broaden the potential promising applications of plasmonic lithography in nanoscale patterning.

Nanopatterning with Photonic Nanojets: Review and Perspectives in Biomedical Research

Nanostructured surfaces and devices offer astounding possibilities for biomedical research, including cellular and molecular biology, diagnostics, and therapeutics. However, the wide implementation of these systems is currently limited by the lack of cost-effective and easy-to-use nanopatterning tools. A promising solution is to use optical methods based on photonic nanojets, namely, needle-like beams featuring a nanometric width. In this review, we survey the physics, engineering strategies, and recent implementations of photonic nanojets for high-throughput generation of arbitrary nanopatterns, along with applications in optics, electronics, mechanics, and biosensing. An outlook of the potential impact of nanopatterning technologies based on photonic nanojets in several relevant biomedical areas is also provided.

Photonic nanojets with ultralong working distance and narrowed beam waist by immersed engineered dielectric hemisphere

Engineered spherical micro-lens can manipulate light at sub-wavelength scale and emerges as a promising candidate to extend the focal length and narrow the focal spot size. Here, we report the generation of photonic nanojets (PNJs) with an ultralong working distance and narrowed beam waist by an immersed engineered hemisphere. Simulations show that a two-layer hemisphere of 4.5 µm radius exhibits a PNJ with the working distance of 9.6 µm, full width at half maximum of 287 nm, and length of 23.37 λ, under illumination of a plane wave with a 365 nm wavelength. A geometrical optics analysis indicated that the formed PNJ behind the immersed two-layer hemisphere results from the convergence of light of the outer-hemisphere fringe area, which refracts into and passes through the outer hemisphere and then directly leaves the outer-hemisphere flat surface. Thus the embedded hemisphere is comparable to an immersed focusing lens with high numerical aperture, which can promise both long working distance and narrowed beam waist. This is further demonstrated with the corresponding embedded-engineered single-layer hemisphere, whose spherical face is partly cut parallel to the hemispherical flat surface. In addition, the hemisphere is compatible with adjacent laser wavelengths. Finally, a spot size smaller than 0.5 λ is demonstrated in the lithography simulation. Due to these hemispheres low cost, they have potential in far-field lithography for pattern arrays with line width less than 0.5 λ.

Recent progress in near-field nanolithography using light interactions with colloidal particles: from nanospheres to three-dimensional nanostructures

The advance of nanotechnology is firmly rooted in the development of cost-effective, versatile, and easily accessible nanofabrication techniques. The ability to pattern complex two-dimensional and three-dimensional nanostructured materials are particularly desirable, since they can have novel physical properties that are not found in bulk materials. This review article will report recent progress in utilizing self-assembly of colloidal particles for nanolithography. In these techniques, the near-field interactions of light and colloids are the sole mechanisms employed to generate the intensity distributions for patterning. Based on both 'bottom-up' self-assembly and 'top-down' lithography approaches, these processes are highly versatile and can take advantage of a number of optical effects, allowing the complex 3D nanostructures to be patterned using single exposures. There are several key advantages including low equipment cost, facile structure design, and patterning scalability, which will be discussed in detail. We will outline the underlying optical effects, review the geometries that can be fabricated, discuss key limitations, and highlight potential applications in nanophotonics, optoelectronic devices, and nanoarchitectured materials.