Date | 22nd, Jun 2019 |
---|
Home > Press > Ice lithography: opportunities and challenges in 3D nanofabrication
Abstract: Nanotechnology and nanoscience are enabled by nanofabrication. Electron-beam lithography (EBL), which makes patterns down to a few nanometers, is one of the fundamental pillars of nanofabrication. In the past decade, significant progress has been made in electron-beam-based nanofabrication, such as the emerging ice lithography (IL) technology, in which ice thin-films are used as resists and patterned by a focused electron-beam. The entire process of IL nanofabrication is sustainable and streamlined because spin coating and chemical developing steps commonly required for EBL resists are made needless.
Beijing, China | Posted on June 21st, 2019
A fresh review "Ice lithography for 3D nanofabrication" by Prof. Min Qiu at Westlake University is published in Science Bulletin. In this review, the authors present current status and future perspectives of ice lithography (IL). Different ice resists and IL instrument design are also introduced. Special emphasis is placed on advantages of IL for 3D nanofabrication.
The IL technology was first proposed by the Nanopore group at Harvard University in 2005. Water ice is the first identified ice resist for IL, and it is still the only one positive-tone lithography resist so far. As shown in Fig.1, water ice is easily removed within the electron-beam exposure area. Organic ice condensed from simple organic molecules, such as alkanes, demonstrates a negative-resist-like capability, which means only exposed patterns remain on the substrate after heating the sample to room temperature.
IL research is still in its infancy, and this method has already exhibited great advantages in efficient 3D nanofabrication. Different from spin coating of EBL resists, ice resists are able to coat all accessible freezing surfaces of the sample during ice deposition. Therefore, IL can process samples with non-flat and irregular surfaces, such as patterning on AFM probes, and pattern on a tiny and fragile nanostructure, such as suspended single-walled carbon nanotubes. Benefiting from the very low sensitivity of water ice, IL allows in situ observing nanostructures under the ice resist through SEM imaging. This feature not only improves the alignment accuracy but also simplifies the processing steps in fabricating 3D layered nanostructures.
As cutting-edge instrument research and development is essential for advancing the IL technology, this review finally discusses the evolution of IL instruments and provides a clear guidance on the construction of a dedicated IL instrument. With the discovery of new functional ice resists in future, more cutting-edge and interdisciplinary researches are expected to exploit the potentials of IL.
###
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61425023), National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFA0205700), European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skodowska-Curie grant agreement (Grant No. 713683).
####
For more information, please click here
Copyright © Science China Press
If you have a comment, please Contact us.
Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Nanofabrication
Efficiently processing high-quality periodic nanostructures with ultrafast laser July 1st, 2022
First integrated laser on lithium niobate chip: Research paves the way for high-powered telecommunication systems April 8th, 2022
Atom by atom: building precise smaller nanoparticles with templates March 4th, 2022
3D & 4D printing/Additive-manufacturing
UBCO researchers change the game when it comes to activity tracking: Flexible, highly sensitive motion device created by extrusion printing June 17th, 2022
Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy
Solving the solar energy storage problem with rechargeable batteries that can convert and store energy at once June 24th, 2022
Boron nitride nanotube fibers get real: Rice lab creates first heat-tolerant, stable fibers from wet-spinning process June 24th, 2022
UBCO researchers change the game when it comes to activity tracking: Flexible, highly sensitive motion device created by extrusion printing June 17th, 2022
University of Illinois Chicago joins Brookhaven Lab's Quantum Center June 10th, 2022
Discoveries
Sieving carbons: Ideal anodes for high-energy sodium-ion batteries July 1st, 2022
Efficiently processing high-quality periodic nanostructures with ultrafast laser July 1st, 2022
Photonic synapses with low power consumption and high sensitivity are expected to integrate sensing-memory-preprocessing capabilities July 1st, 2022
Announcements
Two opposing approaches could give lithium-sulfur batteries a leg up over lithium-ion July 1st, 2022
Efficiently processing high-quality periodic nanostructures with ultrafast laser July 1st, 2022
Photonic synapses with low power consumption and high sensitivity are expected to integrate sensing-memory-preprocessing capabilities July 1st, 2022
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Sieving carbons: Ideal anodes for high-energy sodium-ion batteries July 1st, 2022
An artificial intelligence probe help see tumor malignancy July 1st, 2022
Photon-controlled diode: an optoelectronic device with a new signal processing behavior July 1st, 2022
Grants/Sponsored Research/Awards/Scholarships/Gifts/Contests/Honors/Records
Solving the solar energy storage problem with rechargeable batteries that can convert and store energy at once June 24th, 2022
Boron nitride nanotube fibers get real: Rice lab creates first heat-tolerant, stable fibers from wet-spinning process June 24th, 2022