Advanced two-photon photolithography for patterning of transparent, electrically conductive ionic liquid-polymer nanostructures

Abstract

A key challenge in micro- and nanotechnology is the direct patterning of functional structures. For example, it is highly desirable to possess the ability to create three-dimensional (3D), conductive, and optically transparent structures. Efforts in this direction have, to date, yielded less than optimal results since the polymer composites had low optical transparency over the visible range, were only slightly conductive, or incompatible with high resolution structuring. We have previously presented the novel cross-linkable, conductive, highly transparent composite material based on a photoresist (IP-L 780, OrmoComp, or SU-8) and the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide. Material patterning by conventional and two-photon photolithography has been demonstrated as proof-of-concept. Aiming to increase the resolution and to extend the spectrum of exciting applications we continued our research into identifying new ionic liquid - polymer composites. In this paper, we report the precise 3D single-step structuring of optically transparent and electrically conductive ionic liquid - polymer nanostructures with the highest spatial resolution (down to 150 nm) achieved to date. This was achieved via the development of novel cross-linkable composite based on the photoresist IP-G 780 and the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide. The successful combination of the developed material with the advanced direct laser writing technique enabled the time- and cost-saving direct manufacturing of transparent, electrically conductive components. We believe that the excellent characteristics of the structured material will open a wider range of exciting applications.