Pattern Transfer Printing by Controlling the Deposition Angle to Form Various Patterns

Abstract

The nanofabrication of modern electronic devices requires advanced nanopatterning technologies. To fabricate desirable nanodevices with excellent device performance, controlling the shape and dimension of the pattern is very important. However, to achieve more facile and faster device fabrication, with better pattern resolution, pattern-tunability, process simplicity, and cost-effectiveness, some remaining challenges still need to be resolved. In this study, we introduce a simple and practical method to generate various patterns using a nanotransfer printing (nTP) process. To obtain functional materials with diverse shapes on a polymer replica pattern, in the nTP process we controlled the angle of deposition before transfer-printing. First, we obtained three different pattern shapes with a thickness of ~ 30 nm on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) replica patterns. Then, the deposited functional patterns on the PMMA patterns are successfully transfer-printed onto SiO₂/Si substrates, showing line, L-shape line, and concavo-convex patterns. We observed the pattern shapes of the patterns by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and optical microscope. Moreover, we systemically analyzed how to form patterns of various shapes using one kind of master mold. We expect that this simple approach will be widely used to fabricate various useful patterns for electronic device applications.